Essay on A Critique of Berger's Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Steven A. Beebe, Susan J. Beebe, Mark V. Redmond ,Terri M. Geerinck . Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others, Pearson Education Canada; 5 edition (Feb. 15 2010)

To make sure that students get to know everyone, I will ask students at the beginning of activities to talk to at least three people that they don’t know. To also help with this I will ask students at activities to form a group

The Uncertainty Reduction Theory states that before and during initial interactions between two people, one's first instinct is to reduce uncertainty about the other through various methods. For example, when you see someone you think you would like to know, you try and figure out what they are like through various methods so you can control the conversation and steer it into a path that the other person finds interesting.

The theories I will focus on in this essay is Social Penetration Theory and Uncertainty Reduction Theory. The reason I choose both these theories focus on initial interactions with stingers and how relationships develop. The social penetration theory is an objective theory (A First Look at Communication, page 93) uses the example of peeling an onion. It shows the “multilayered structure of personality.” The theory explains that as you go from not knowing someone and over time developing a more personal relationship through stages of disclosure. The other theory I will highlight will be Uncertainty Reduction Theory which follows seven main assumptions on how we develop information about a new acquaintance in order to lower uncertainty and predict others behaviors. Overall I will outline the core beliefs of these two theories and tie them together as how they both help us develop relationships with new people. And explain how we interact in new social settings. Both these objective theories show similar links but in some ways are different.

I hope to be able to help people, and for me to be able to do that, I have to understand their thinking pattern. Like here in Swaziland, these days’

Time is like a moving phenomenon that will continue to move on without regarding people’s readiness, where life is very much the same idea. Everything that happens in the past is entirely out of any individual’s control especially if that certain past memory left a significant impact on one’s life. Uncertainties of the past can often create a shadow on an individual for long periods of time, sometimes beyond what is perceive to be reasonable. These uncertainties keep individuals awake at night struggling to reconcile the conflict. In these certain cases, individual must learn how to reconcile the uncertainties with their present situation, where in capable of doing so will result in the balance of ideals and maintain their social lives. However,

Subsequently they go on saying, “Understanding these interpersonal perceptions requires the formal recognition that a given perception is nested within a dyad that is nested within a group. Thankfully, the social relations model (SRM; Kenny, 1994) provides group researchers with both a theory and an analytic structure for understanding interpersonal perceptions” (p.

Uncertainty reduction theory is “the point of view that uncertainty motivates communication and that certainty reduces the motivation to communicate” (Wood, definition). This theory was first developed by Charles Berger. He believed that when people are to meet for the first time they have a high level of uncertainty and the only way for them to reduce it is to communicate with one another. “They don’t know what each other likes, thinks and believes; how each other responds to certain reactions, and they’re unsure what each other expects or wants from interacting” (Wood,184). There are three prior conditions that are meant to help individuals want to reduce uncertainty.

Meeting new people is a major reason for furthering my education at college. Although school isn’t necessarily about socializing, it does play an important role in the human need for interaction. Well-informed people can connect with

“It was around 15 or 16 I started teaching myself about social dynamics. Picture a how-to guide on ‘The Art of Conversation’, only the concept shines light on so many aspects of basic communication that go overlooked on the regular” (K. Bu, P Comm, Mar 17).

How can interpersonal communication skills quickly create a best-friend relationship between two complete strangers? Not possible, you say? I know for a fact that this is conceivable, because I am one of the strangers. Mark Knapp’s Relational Escalation Model illuminates how interpersonal communication skills construct a relationship development between two complete strangers, which enables them to become best friends- (at least for this semester). Initially, Courtney and I were both enrolled in 2 of the same courses at the University of Houston Downtown, in the Commerce Building. We saw each other on Tuesday mornings, in Public Speaking class. Latter in the morning, we had the same Interpersonal Communication class. Both of us are pursuing a degree in Communication Studies, therefore taking the same classes

The main issue addressed in this exposition is if “reliabilism is true, could we ever know whether we know anything? (If not, how big a problem would that be?)” According to the following evidence that will be presented, it is suggested that there is no way of knowing whether we know anything, when using the reliabilist form of justification as a way to reach truth. To begin, reliabilism is a form of justification where we do not need to account for the exact sources our beliefs come from because it “is externalist in character” (Handout 10). Moreover, a belief is justified if it was formed by an unconditionally reliable process, or by a conditionally reliable process that receives input from other conditional reliable processes that are

It is about the situation in which a person has repeated contact with other people in order to lead to a friendship: “you have more friends if there are more people you meet on a regular basis” (Stauder 2014). Repetition of contact with humans is more significant than the number of people met. Contact opportunities are influenced not only by social structure but a person’s opportunity for contact and association. This idea of interaction structures starts to acutely explain empirical research: “young people in higher education are likely to have friends covering a broad spread of backgrounds, working-class are likely to be limited” (Pahl 2000: 108). This is not due to personal attitude or prejudices, but the situations and opportunities in which contact with people leads to friendship. University is increasingly mixed in terms of students' class and ethnicity, whereas a local community may tend to have less variation regardless of whether it is middle- or working-class. A person needs to be willing and open to friendship, and which people one chooses to become friends with depends on who one meets, so friendship necessarily occurs within the confines of social structures. This echoes Giddens' theory of structuration, wherein “human agency and social structure are in a relationship with each other” (Gauntlett 2002). It is the application of macro and

Uncertainty reduction theory could be applied to long-term relationships as well as initial encounter (Berger, 1979). Berger presented that uncertainty may happen on two different levels: behavioral and cognitive. He stated that reducing uncertainty in behavior increases the predicting ability of how a person will act when he/she is facing a situation. In the mean time, cognitive uncertainty affects the ability to explain the main rational reasons for that certain action.

“When an individual enters the presence of others, they commonly seek to acquire
information about him or to bring into play information about him already possessed. They
will be interested in his general socio-economic status, his conception of self, his attitude
towards them, his competence, his trustworthiness, etc. Although some of this information is
sought as an end in itself, there are usually quite practical reasons for acquiring it. Information
about the individual helps to define the situation, enabling others to know in advance what he
will expect of them and what they may expect of him. Informed in these ways, the others will
know