UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY OF CHARLES BERGER

* All friends begin as strangers. Berger contends that our drive to reduceuncertainty about new acquaintances gets an exffa boost from any of threeprior conditions.

A. Anticipation of future interaction: we know we will see them again.B. Incentive value: They have something we want.C. Deviance: They actin aweird way.

UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION: TO PREDICT AND EXPLAIN

.E Two kinds of uncertainties: Behavioural and Cognitive'l' Behavioural: In the first meeting one does not know how to face the other and

how one should act towards the new person. Should you shake hands or say'Namaste"? Who must pay the bill when going along with a stranger? Oftenthere are accepted procedural protocols to ease the stress that behaviouraluncertainty can cause.

{. Cognitive: Cognitive questions are aimed at discovering who the other personis as a unique individual. What makes her happy? Does she have otherfriends? Reducing cognitive uncertainty means acquiring information thatallows you to discard many of these possibilities. That's the kind ofuncertainty reduction Berger's theory addresses.

AN AXIOMATIVE THEORY: CERTAINTY ABOUT LINCERTAINTY

.t Eight key variables of relationship development: Verbal ou@ut, nonverbalwarmth, information seeking, self-disclosure, reciprocity, similarity, liking,shared networks. Axioms are traditionally regarded as self-evident truths thatrequire no additional proof.

l Verbal output: As uncertainty is further reduced, the amount of verbalcommunication will increase.Nonverbal warmth: As nonverbal affiliative expressiveness increases,uncertainty levels will decrease in an initial interaction situation.Information seeking: High levels of uncertainty cause increase in informationseeking behaviour. As uncertainty levels decline, information-seekingbehaviour decreases.

Self-disclosure: High levels of uncertainty in a relationship cause deqiSthe intimacy level of communication content. Low levels of urrcffifu*yproduce high levels of intimacy. People express attitudes, values, and fbdingswhen they have good idea what the listener's response will be.Reciprocitv: High levels of uncertainfy produce high rates of reciprocity. Lowlevels of uncertainty produce low levels of reciprocity.Similarity: Similarities between persons reduce uncertainty, whiledissimilarities produce increases in uncertainty. The conversation grows whenwe are able to find qualities that both like and because we both like to designsomething on the computer; we become familiar with each other and in otherwords uncertainty decreases.

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Likine: Increases in uncertainty level produce decreases in liking; decreases inuncertainty produce increases in liking.Shared networks: Shared communication networks reduce uncertainty, whilelack of shared networks increases uncertainty. This idea goes beyond the twostrangers' meeting.

STRETEGIES TO COPE WITH UNCERTAINTY

{. Berger says "most social interaction is goal-driven". He felt that wecontinually construct cognitive plans to guide our social actions. According toBerger, "Plans are mental representations of action sequences that may beused to achieve goals."

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CRITQUE

..1. Motivational assumption of axiom 3 as the problem* Berger's analysis of human interaction is a major contribution to

communication studies.

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Overall Strategy:Build relationshipwith dispatcher