Repatriation without sufficient notice is a common cause of reverse culture shock for expats returning home from abroad. Learn why advanced planning is crucial.
Table of Contents
Question
Which situation is most likely to cause reverse culture shock?
Answer
Repatriation without enough notice.A multinational corporation is hiring skilled workers who have left their countries because of civil unrest and natural catastrophes. In some cases as many as a hundred new employees may have emigrated from the same or neighboring towns.
Explanation
The situation most likely to cause reverse culture shock is repatriation without enough notice.
Reverse culture shock refers to the difficultly and disorientation people often experience when returning to their home country after an extended period living abroad. While culture shock upon moving to a foreign country is expected, many people are surprised by how challenging it can be to re-adjust to their own culture.
One of the biggest factors that can worsen reverse culture shock is a lack of time to mentally and logistically prepare for the return home. Repatriation, the process of returning to one’s home country, can be extremely stressful if it happens abruptly without sufficient advanced notice.
Expatriates need ample time to process the upcoming transition, make arrangements, say goodbyes, and get into the right mindset. Sudden repatriation, especially if due to unexpected circumstances like a job loss or family emergency, heightens the emotional upheaval. Without the opportunity to properly prepare, reverse culture shock is likely to be more severe.
In contrast, while a company hiring large numbers of immigrant workers displaced by unrest or disasters involves major life upheaval for those individuals, it is less relevant to the specific issue of reverse culture shock. In this case, the workers are settling in a new country rather than returning to their place of origin.
The key to minimizing reverse culture shock is to allow returning expats as much time and support as possible to smoothly reintegrate into their native culture after living overseas. Proper planning and expectation-setting is crucial.
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