Uncertainty Reduction Theory: Chapter 10

Berger describes people as

"Cognitive misers" who would rather try a quick fix than expand the effort to repair faulty plans

Berger believes that our main purpose in talking to people is to

"make sense out of interpersonal world"

Critique of URT theory

1. Kathy Kellerman and Rodney Reynolds critique axiom 3 which assumes that lack of info triggers a search for knowledge - they found that "wanting" knowledge rather than "lacking" knowledge is what promotes info seeking. 2. Kellerman and Reynolds also failed to find that anticipated future interaction, incentive value, or deviance gave any motivational kick to info seeking. 3. Michael Sunnafrank challenges Berger's claim that uncertainty reduction is the key to understanding early encounters

What are the 3 types of strategies a person may use to seek information about someone?

1. Passive strategy; 2. Active strategy; 3. Interactive strategy (all ways to reduce uncertainty; allows us to plan how we will interact with that person)

Berger said that our drive to reduce uncertainty about new acquaintances gets a boost from any of three prior conditions

1. anticipation of future interaction (we know we will see them again); 2. Incentive value (they have something we want); and 3. Deviance: they act in a weird way

Berger notes there are at least two kinds of uncertainty you face as you set out for your first meeting with a person

1. deals with behavioral questions (bc you aren't sure how you should act; e.g. Should you shake hands?) 2. deals with cognitive questions aimed at discovering who the other person is as a unique individual (e.g. what makes this person glad, sad, or mad?)

Berger's theory generates how many theorems?

28; all based on the importance of reducing uncertainty in human interaction (e.g. if similarity reduces uncertainty (axiom 6) and reduced uncertainty increases liking (axiom 7) then similarity and liking are positively related (theorem 21))

Gudykunst's AUM theory differs from Berger's URT theory in how many ways?

5

Berger uses how many axioms to explain uncertainty

8

Plan complexity

A characteristic of a message plan based on the level of detail it provides and the number of contingencies it covers (different plans to use in case the original one doesn't work)

Types of correlations the theorems assert

A plus sign (+) shows that the two interpersonal variables rise or fall together. A minus sign (-) indicates that as one increases, the other decreases.

Theorem

A proposition that logically and necessarily follows from two axioms

Axiom

A self-evident truth that requires no additional proof

Third way AUM theory differs from URT theory

AUM theory has a vast array of axioms (34) that cluster under seven categories - each linking a separate variable to the rise or fall of anxiety and uncertainty

What kind of theory is URT?

An objective theory that follows the socio-psychological tradition

Axiom 2, Nonverbal Warmth

As nonverbal affiliative expressiveness increases, uncertainty levels will decrease in an initial interaction situation

Axiom 1, Verbal Communication

As the amount of verbal communication between strangers increases, the level of uncertainty for each interactant in the relationship will decrease

The kind of uncertainty reduction Berger's theory addresses is

Cognitive - reducing cognitive uncertainty means acquiring information that allows you to discard many potential traits you might assign someone after meeting them for the first time

A top-down revision of an action plan requires great amounts of

Cognitive capacity; even if you are a cognitively complex person, Berger claims you can't be sure you'll reach your goal (uncertainty is central to ALL social interaction; the probability of perfect communication is ZERO)

William Gudykunst

Communication professor inspired by Berger's theory; applied some of the axioms and theorems from URT to intercultural settings; noted that strangers and in-group members experience some degree of anxiety and uncertainty in any new interpersonal situation, but when the encounter takes place between people of different cultures, strangers are hyperaware of cultural differences

Second way AUM theory and URT theory differ

End goals differ; end goal of AUM theory is "effective communication" whereas the end goal of URT theory is closeness or relational satisfaction

Attribution theory

Fritz Heider; a systematic explanation of how people draw inferences about the character of others based upon observed behavior

Berger concluded that most social interaction is

Goal-driven; he labeled his work "A Plan-Based Theory of Strategic Communication" because he was convinced that we continually construct cognitive plans to guide our social action

Anxiety/uncertainty management theory

Gudykunst; an intercultural theory that claims high levels of uncertainty and anxiety lead to greater misunderstanding when strangers don't communicate mindfully

Berger claims that plans are

Hierarchically organized with abstract action representations at the top of the hierarchy and progressively more concrete representations toward the bottom

Axiom 3, Information Seeking

High levels of uncertainty cause increases in information-seeking behavior

Axiom 4, Self-Disclosure

High levels of uncertainty in a relationship cause decreases in the intimacy level of communication content (most people wait to express attitudes, values, and feelings until they have a good idea what the listener's response will be)

Axiom 5, Reciprocity

High levels of uncertainty produce high rates of reciprocity; people tend to mete out the personal details of their lives (self-disclosure) at a rate that closely matches their partner's willingness to share intimate information

Active strategy

Impression formation by asking a third party about a person

Passive strategy

Impression formation by observing a person interacting with others (works best when we spot others reacting to people in informal, or "backstage" settings)

Interactive Strategy

Impression formation through face-to-face discussion with a person (quickest route to reducing uncertainty)

Uncertainty reduction

Increased knowledge of what kind of person another is, which provides an improved forecast of how a future interaction will turn out

Axiom 7, Liking

Increases in liking produce decreases in uncertainty

High uncertainty argues for a more or less complex plan?

Less complex plan that you can adjust in the moment, once you get a feel for who he/she is and what he/she wants (this simpler approach is preferred because enacting a complex plan takes so much cognitive effort that there's usually a deterioration in verbal and nonverbal fluency, with a resultant loss in credibility)

Fourth way AUM theory differs from URT theory

Lower and upper thresholds for fear and doubt in AUM theory: Gudykunst suggests we have a minimum threshold of apprehension that will guarantee that adrenaline rushes through our veins and prods us to communicate effectively; and that we have a threshold of high anxiety above which we become paralyzed with fear and then we can't concentrate on the message or the messenger so we fall back on negative stereotypes or withdraw from the conversation

The minimum threshold for uncertainty is the

Lowest amount of doubt we can have and yet not feel bored or overconfident about our predictions of strangers' behavior

Message plans

Mental representations of action sequences that may be used to achieve goals

Fifth way AUM theory and URT theory differ

Mindfulness in AUM theory; mindfulness is the way in-group members and strangers can reduce their anxiety and uncertainty to optimum levels; we are mindful when we consciously think about our communication and continually work at changing what we do in order to become more effective

Sunnafrank insists that the early course of a relationship is guided by its

Predicted outcome value (POV): a forecast of future benefits and costs of interaction based on limited experience with the other; says our primary goal of our initial interaction with another is maximizing our relational outcomes rather than finding out who he/she is

How does Gudykunst see uncertainty vs. anxiety?

Sees uncertainty as cognitive; sees anxiety as affective - an emotion

Axiom 8, Shared Networks

Shared communication networks (friends/family) reduce uncertainty; not part of Berger's original theory

Axiom 6, Similarity

Similarities between people reduce uncertainty

When people aren't mindful,

The axioms have the force of law, and doubt and fear in intercultural settings is inevitable (determinism)

Effective communication (mutual understanding)

The extent to which a person interpreting a message does so in a way that's relatively similar to what was intended; minimizing misunderstanding; in other words, "communication is effective to the extent that the person interpreting the message attaches a meaning to the message that's similar to what was intended by the person transmitting it"

Anxiety

The feeling of being uneasy, tense, worried, or apprehensive about what might happen

Hierarchy hypothesis

The prediction that when people are thwarted in their attempts to achieve goals, their first tendency is to alter lower-level elements of their message (e.g. when it's obvious the person we're talking to has failed to grasp what we're saying, our inclination is to repeat the same message louder)

Mindfulness

The process of thinking in new categories (instead of classifying people according to their ethnicity, gender, age, wealth, or rules), being open to new information, and recognizing multiple perspectives

When people are mindful,

Their mindfulness trumps the axioms, therefore reducing anxiety and uncertainty to manageable levels (free will)

Critique of Theorem 17

Theorem 17 says that the more you like someone, the less information you will seek about them; seems more reasonable to suggest that persons will seek info about and from those they like rather than those they dislike; points to axiom 3 as the problem

Ten years after introducing URT, Berger switched his research focus to the

Thought processes people go through in order to produce the messages they speak

Leanne Knobloch and Laura Miller think the assumptions underlying both URT and POV are

Too narrow: they suggest that we're not just uncertain about our new partner, we're uncertain about ourselves and the future of the relationship. They also claim that uncertainty can be rewarding as well as costly, and so we often cultivate uncertainty, ambiguity, or novelty in our relationships

Hedging

Use of strategic ambiguity and humor to provide a way for both parties to save face when a message fails to achieve its goal

Berger's axioms include what variables of relationship development?

Verbal communication, nonverbal warmth, information seeking, self-disclosure, reciprocity, similarity, liking, and shared networks

First way AUM theory and URT theory differ

Whereas Berger treats "uncertainty" as the key communication variable, Gudykunst elevated "anxiety" to an equal status; Gudykunst believed that uncertainty and anxiety are the twin threats that must be managed to achieve effective communication - they are the basic cause of intercultural misunderstanding

Charles Berger

believes it's natural to have doubts about our ability to predict the outcome of initial encounters; says the beginnings of personal relationships are fraught with uncertainties

Effective intercultural communication is possible only when participants' levels of doubt and fear fall somewhere

between the upper and lower thresholds

Berger's URT focuses on how

human communication is used to gain knowledge and create understanding; central to the theory is the assumption that when strangers meet, their primary concern is one of uncertainty reduction or increasing predictability about the behavior of both themselves and others in the interaction

Berger focuses on

predictability, which he sees as the opposite of uncertainty. "As the ability of persons to predict which alternative or alternatives are likely to occur next decreases, uncertainty increases"