The Social Penetration Theory & the Uncertain Reduction Theory Implications on the Sales Process

A man named Michael Argyle who was a social psychologist that researched human communication and discussions between people created the Argyle theory in 1972. He believed that interpersonal communication between individuals was like learning how to drive a car. Argyle first explained that human communication is a process that involves people sending and responding to messages in a non-verbal and verbal way. In 1972 Argyle created the ‘communication cycle’ and the aim of the communication cycle is for people to understand how communication occurs between them when they are one to one. The cycle is made up of six main steps and the steps involve, being able to understand and observe how people communicate. It is also about being able to reflect and listen to what the person is saying so that we understand and are able to respond to it correctly.

A man named Michael Argyle who was a social psychologist that researched human communication and discussions between people created the Argyle theory in 1972. He believed that interpersonal communication between individuals was like learning how to drive a car. Argyle first explained that human communication is a process that involves people sending and responding to messages in a non-verbal and verbal way. In 1972 Argyle created the ‘communication cycle’ and the aim of the communication cycle is for people to understand how communication occurs between them when they are one to one. The cycle is made up of six main steps and the steps involve, being able to understand and observe how people communicate. It is also about being able to reflect and listen to what the person is saying so that we understand and are able to respond to it correctly.

Firstly, Uncertainty reduction theory was written by Charles Berger, his theory focus on the way human predict and interact to others. His theory focused on two types of uncertainty and eight Atoms for uncertainty. According to Charles Uncertainty reduction theory is an increased knowledge of what kind of person another is, which provides an improved forecast of how a future interaction will turn out. In another word mean that communication is the key to form health relationship. As human we communicate to generally understand one another and to also reduction our uncertainty. I can apply uncertainty reduction theory to my love life, my first day at a new school, making new friends and meeting new people, new location, and I can also apply uncertainty reduction theory to my first job interview, and many other situation to my life.

This means that the sender has to think and assess the circumstances that they are placed in before they start to communicate. The sender transmitting the message needs to think about what and how they are trying to say the message. For example, in a doctor’s surgery, an idea will occur as the practitioner thinks about how he/she will communicate with the current patient. This allows him to communicate more

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.

Both employees and customers can become confused or irritated by managers' poor interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are important to managers charged with building workplace trust and cooperation from staff members who are collectively accountable for furthering business goals. Imprecise and rash business communication frequently results in wasted time because of the need to revisit

people communicate as we must appreciate that the language we speak, the body language we portray, may not necessarily correspond to that of others, and so it will need to be modified to promote a positive foundation on which relationships flourish.

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.

When it comes to talking about theories of communication, it is easy to overlook the impact they have on our day-to-day lives. Often times when people think of theories they think of long boring explanations that have little meaning or pertinence to their lives. This, however, is not always the case. It may surprise some to find out that the interactions they have whether at work, with their loved ones, or even with a stranger all relate back to theories that explain why they do the things they do. This not only includes the face-to-face interaction we have in real life, but also through the relationships we see portrayed in television shows and movies. An example of this is how the uncertainty reduction theory plays into the relationship development between Belle and the Beast in the newest movie version of Beauty and the Beast.

Communication is an ongoing process in which individuals exchange messages whose meanings are influenced by the history of the relationship and the experiences of the participants. (Adler, p.384) Communication depends on relationships between the people who are communicating, and on common basics between them. Problems in communications between people may arise due to differences in cultures, perceptions, values, and expectations from life.

Communication is the process of gathering meaning from the world around us and using verbal and non-verbal messages to share this meaning with others. (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 2005) More specifically, interpersonal communication can be defined as; “a distinctive, transactual form of human communication involving mutual influence, usually for the purpose of managing relation ships.” (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 2005, p. 6) Interpersonal communication is extremely complex and encompasses many different themes and issues that affect many aspects of our daily lives. These

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.

In interpersonal communication there are many theories that are similar yet different in many ways. The theories can be combined to describe people and how those people interact and communicate with each other. Many of these theories help explain how people in society form impressions of others, how they maintain these impressions, why people interact with certain people in society, and how people will use these impressions that they have formed later on in life. These theories also help people to better understand themselves, to better understand interpersonal communication, and to better understand people in general. There are two theories in interpersonal communication that, despite their differences, can go hand in hand. The first is

A good salesman would have various strategies to respond to given signs, increasing the probability of a successful sale. Failing to respond to the customer appropriately can almost guarantee the salesperson has failed to make a sale. Goman (2012) posted an article on Forbes titled “Knowing When to Back Off” describing an interaction she was observing between a salesman and a potential client in a bar. In a short paragraph she talks about how the salesman appeared to be doing well verbally, but he was putting the client in an uncomfortable position by sitting too close to him. The client began to inch away very slowly, and the salesman did not notice any of this. The client eventually ended up leaving the bar after excusing himself to make a phone call. The salesman failed to understand the client’s basic need of personal space, which cost him the sale. Had the salesman recognized the non-verbal message being sent by the client, the client may have stayed. So it can be seen that developing this social awareness with emotional intelligence and understanding the needs of the customer become very important for the success of a salesman. The salesman would have to know about how to react to the emotion and message being conveyed with body language and control these emotions in order to lead the dialogue in the direction which hopefully leads to a sale.