Interaction between intermediate missionaries’ and their host culture, and the missionaries perceived level of reverse culture shock.
The following research explored the relationship between intermediate missionaries and their immersion into a host culture and their level of perceived reverse culture shock upon their arrival back to their home culture. The participants of the study were 22 intermediate missionaries from the organizations of Village Schools International and the Navigators. Each participant had to of participated in a mission trip abroad that lasted from two months to five years. Researchers created the Immersion in the Host Culture Scale, which was a six-part open ended questionnaire to determine the amount of immersion a missionary took part in during their mission. Researchers also used the Reentry Shock Scale that consists of sixteen-point true false statements that help record a missionary’s perceived level of reverse culture shock. Researchers determined cultural immersion from decoding for six different themes: Curiosity, involvement, cooking, desire, contentment, and relational. The results of this study theorized that there is a positive relationship between the amount of cultural immersion and perceived re-entry shock with intermediate missionaries. Unfortunately, the limitations of the study prevent researchers from drawing definitive conclusions about a possible cause of re-entry shock.
COMM 499, Senior Capstone
Doyle Srader
L203
12:30 – 1 PM