Download Paper #1 Communication Crash

Beca Castaneda
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Professor McKay
Paper #1 Communication Crash
Introduction of the Theory
“Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) states that people oftentimes feel unease about
others they do not know, and are motivated to communicate in order to reduce that uncertainty”
(N/A, Communication Studies). “When strangers meet, their primary focus is reducing their
level of uncertainty in the situation, because uncertainty is uncomfortable. They could be unsure
of how to behave or how the other person will behave; or they may also be unsure of what to
think of the other person and what the other person might think of them” (Turner and West, 149).
The goal of this theory is to describe and predict behavior; find provable causes and effects to
improve or degrade the human condition. “High levels of uncertainty are related to a variety of
verbal and nonverbal behaviors” (Berger). As the amount of verbal communication increases,
uncertainty levels decrease, and as uncertainty levels decrease nonverbal expressiveness
increases. “People can be uncertain on two different levels: cognitive and behavioral” (Turner
and West, 148-149).
“Cognitive Uncertainty is a level of uncertainty related to cognitions: the mental action or
process of obtaining knowledge and understanding through experience, thoughts, and senses.
Behavioral Uncertainty is a degree of uncertainty related to behaviors: how someone acts”
(Turner and West, 148-149). This theory is based on the research of Charles Berger and Richard
Calabrese; it was originated in 1975. “Their goal was to analyze how communication is used to
reduce uncertainties between strangers interacting in their first conversation together. Both
believed that when strangers first meet, they are mainly worried about increasing the
predictability in an attempt to make sense out of their communication experience” (Turner and
West, 147). “URT was originally conferred as a series of axioms, which describe the
relationships between uncertainty and several communication factors. URT was then refined to
describe the interrelationships between seven essential factors in any dyadic exchange: nonverbal
expressiveness, information-seeking behavior, verbal communication, similarity, intimacy,
reciprocity of disclosure, and liking” (Berger).
“Uncertainty Reduction Theory tries to place communication as the vital element of
human behavior, and because of that, a number of assumptions about human behavior and
communication controls the theory” (Turner and West, 149). In the conflict between absolute
strangers, trying to reduce the level of uncertainty played an essential part in de-escalating those
concerns. In this paper I will describe the conflict in detail, break down the levels of uncertainty
reached, and analyze the communication behaviors.
Description of the Conflict
I have worked in retail for almost 3 years now, and a big part of my job is interacting
with people I have never met before in my life: trying to make casual conversation and asking all
sorts of questions to try to understand how I can help out the customers in any way possible.
There have definitely been certain situations when it gets incredibly awkward and high levels of
uncertainty develop. One Sunday afternoon I go in for a shift at work, and Sundays are usually
pretty slow, meaning we do not get many customers in the store throughout the day. Before
going in for work, I had just finished drinking a large cup of iced black coffee, and caffeine
makes me very hyper. A customer walks into the store and it only takes me a few seconds to
approach him. Because I am in such an intense mood, I catch this customer completely off guard.
This customer was a male and most likely around my age; for the most part, very attractive. He
had this sort of body language of wanting to be left alone to shop, but I have no filter at this
point, so I am just asking a bunch of questions, trying to make a decent conversation. There is
already a definite high level of uncertainty between the two of us. Awkward silences begun to
erupt, and there was even a moment where I could tell the customer was beginning to get
uncomfortable in the situation. I was getting very flustered and not realizing what to do at this
point. Just a few minutes later, I left the customer alone, long enough for him to leave the store
and me being left feeling extremely embarrassed about the entire situation.
This interchange caused a high level of uncertainty between two people. Looking back at
it, I noticed specific stages: Entry Phase, Personal Phase, and Exit Phase. “Entry Phase is the
beginning stage of an interaction between strangers”—approaching the customer and introducing
myself. “Personal Phase is the stage in a relationship when people begin to communicate more
spontaneously and personally”—asking questions and trying to make conversation. And lastly,
“Exit Phase is the stage in a relationship when people decide whether to continue or leave”—in
my case, the customer left (N/A, Communication Studies).
Theory Analysis
The conflict was not at all handled well. I reacted too intense and that caused the
customer to feel uncomfortable. I tried reducing the level uncertainty with interactive strategies
by making casual conversation with the customer, but unfortunately, it did not succeed.
Theory Recommendation
This conflict could have easily been avoided or improved in many ways. One way of
reducing uncertainty is by increasing verbal communication. As mentioned before, the increase
of verbal communication decreases uncertainty. I think the problem in this conflict was, there
were plenty of questions asked, but very little answers and poor communication skills tasked.
The customer and I were quite different, especially in personality. He was more shy and
reserved, whereas I am very outspoken, especially when filled with caffeine. Similarities
between people can reduce uncertainty; we are not the same type of person. Also, high levels of
uncertainty can cause an increase in information seeking. “People tend to use three basic
strategies to secure information about other people: passive, active and interactive. Passive
strategy is when the individual of interest is tested in different situations, including those in
which the person may be introducing themselves to others in a critical way, like self-monitoring.
Active strategy involves setting up a situation, where the person of interest can be observed or
approached for interaction. And finally with the interactive strategy, people commonly exchange
information with the person they want to reduce uncertainty about” (N/A, Communication
Studies).
Conclusion
All in all, I learned a lot about conflict and communication: “how reducing uncertainty
about the self and another in an initial encounter is not an individual’s primary concern”
(Berger). In the conflict between absolute strangers, trying to reduce the level of uncertainty
played an essential part in de-escalating those concerns. Any advice I would give for managing
conflicts in the future and reducing uncertainty would be to really take advantage of the passive,
active, and interactive strategies. “Passive strategies are reducing uncertainty by an unobtrusive
observation, active strategies are reducing uncertainties by mean other than direct contact, and
interactive strategies are reducing uncertainties by engaging in conversation” (Turner and West,
148-150). All of these strategies can help reduce uncertainties and I feel that by using them, you
will not have any problems.
Work Cited
Berger, Charles. "Uncertainty Reduction Theory." n.d. University of Twente. 07 October 2014.
N/A. "Uncertainty Reduction Theory." n.d. Communication Studies. 07 October 2014.
West, Richard and Lynn H Turner. Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis Application . New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.