The Dominant Cause of Cultural Shock and its Effect on the Students who are Studying at Universitas Katolik De La Salle Manado-Indonesia

People entering a new environment could experience a cultural shock. It can also happen to students who study at a place where the culture is different from their home culture as they mayfeel unsettled and anxious. Previous studies uncovered the sources of cultural shock, such as being a different culture, having different expectations, facing different customs, speaking a different dialect. Kalvero Oberg (1960) mentioned six negative feelings caused by culture shock, which were: (1) strain resulting from the effort of psychological adaption; (2) a sense of loss or deprivation referring to the removal of former friends, status, role, and possessions; (3) rejection by or rejection of the new culture; (4) confusion in the role definition, role expectations, feelings, and self-identity; (5) unexpected anxiety, disgust, or indignation regarding cultural differences between the old and new ways; and (6) feelings of helplessness as a result of not coping well in the new environment. Other adverse effects of a cultural shock were discouragement, lethargy, depression, suspicion,boredom, homesickness, anger, extreme sensitivity, irritability, loneliness and loss of familiarity. For students studying in a different cultural setting, this cultural shock may have a negativeimpact on them. This research aims to reveal the dominant cause of cultural shock and its effect on the students who are studying at Universitas Katolik De La Salle Manado-Indonesia. This study used the Analytical Hierarchy Process for data gathering and analysis. The respondents were students of Universitas Katolik De La Salle Manado who came from different provinces of the country. This study benefited the management of the University to improve the program that handled this cultural shock being experienced by the students to enhance their studies at the University.