Uncertainty Reduction Theory Essay

The uncertainty reduction theory was created with intention of giving an explanation to an everyday occurrence when encountering new people. The theory gives reason to something everyday people experience regularly without consciously thinking about it. Psychology had attempted to explain the emotional process of first encounters but never like this. Although a lot of thought and consideration had been put into this, there was no way it could consistently cover every aspect it addresses. Diving further into the concepts and ideas presented can help give a better understanding of the way we interact with society.
Uncertainty can be defined as a situation which involves imperfect or unknown information. As far as whether or not this is an unpleasant
Everyone is different and has unique feelings associated with situations they will find themselves in. In my personal experience I have found that more often than not that this concept evokes more of a state of displeasure and discomfort. Which makes sense because it can be a scary thing not knowing the outcome of certain actions or choices. I am one of the people that fall into this category as I prefer knowing exactly how things are going to go and fear what I do not know. However, this can also produce the opposite with feelings of excitement and wonder. I do understand this side of the equation and it all depends on the way an individual takes it in. The uncertainty reduction theory is a communication based theory which explores the initial interaction between people before any attempts at communicating are made. The theory suggests that before a group of people can begin interacting they need some form of information about the new person in order to reduce their uncertainty and move forward in a relationship with some guidance of where it could go. Essentially, what you have is the idea that in a social environment it can be
Researchers had previously attempted to look at the same topic in social psychology but never focused primarily on the interpersonal processes the way Berger and Calabrese had. Although the theory can largely be based in the information theory by Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver who also examined the uncertainties that exist in the first interactive situations. The Uncertainty reduction theory can be broken up into two types of uncertainty, this being both cognitive uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty. Cognitive uncertainty is closely related to the level of uncertainty associated with the beliefs and attitudes of one another. Uncertainty is at an all time high in these circumstances because there still is no indication as to what the new person's morale code is. Behavioral uncertainty can be seen as the opposite of its predecessor which is the extent to which a given situation begins to become predictable. Basically this aspect covers the idea that most people abide by social norms and there is a level of predictability that is warmly welcomed. However, when the interaction becomes abnormal there is a higher risk that there will be not future interactions because the uncertainty has become to much. Alternatively the theory consists of an uncertainty process which divides into the