The Cultural Adjustment Curve and the Hype Cycle Curve are Similar Because People are the Same for Everything
Below is the hype cycle curve.
Below is one one of the U-curve versions of the Cultural adjustment curves. ‘Arrival’ is usually called the ‘Honeymoon Period’ or ‘Euphoria period’.
If you google ‘expat curve’ or ‘cultural adaption curve’ you can find all sorts of variations. One school of thought is a U-curve and another major school is a W-curve. Why haven’t we settled on one fucking curve? Or first, can people settle on what we are measuring on the fucking y-axis?! We got ‘happiness & satisfaction’ , ‘Level of Comfort/Satisfaction’, ‘Psychological adjustment’…etc. Fucking pick one term OR metric and stick with it. Also notice, even among the U-curves the adjustment side may be higher than the honeymoon side or not. Some even have the satisfaction or whatever going down after adjustment <http://www.intentionalexpat.com/first-day-of-teaching/cultural-adaptation-curve/>.
I like the one below because it shows native culture on both sides of the foreign culture time period.
All the U-curves are wrong. There should be a trigger event that causes a change to the Honeymoon phase, like the one I illustrated below.
This looks pretty similar to the hype cycle adjustment curve. That’s because most people react to new technologies the same way they react to a new culture and city. In fact, I’d wager that people react the same to all new things that may have good qualities and some bad or unsatisfying ones, but overall sum to ‘good’.
Do you react the same way? Do I? I notice that often people who have been on the curve many times can anticipate the ride better and adjust their psychology in anticipation. I bet the curve looks a little different for people with more expansive life experience, good memory, and a tendency for thinking ahead.
