SOJOURNER ADJUSTMENT - THE CASE OF FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN

This article deals with the adjustment of sojourners in Japan. From a psychological perspective, adjustment is closely linked to the development of attitudes in a foreign country. The results of this investigation do not support the idea that foreigners' attitudes toward their host culture automatically improve once they have learned to cope with their new environment in everyday life. This idea has been implied not only by what is widely known as the U-curve theory of adjustment but also by the theory of culture learning. Generally, the results of this investigation suggest a more ambiguous and pessimistic picture of the prospect of overcoming culture shock in a culturally homogeneous environment.