UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY OF CHARLES BERGER

* All friends begin as strangers. Berger contends that our drive to reduce
uncertainty about new acquaintances gets an exffa boost from any of three
prior conditions.
A. Anticipation of future interaction: we know we will see them again.
B. Incentive value: They have something we want.
C. Deviance: They actin aweird way.

UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION: TO PREDICT AND EXPLAIN

.E Two kinds of uncertainties: Behavioural and Cognitive

'l' Behavioural: In the first meeting one does not know how to face the other and
how one should act towards the new person. Should you shake hands or say
'Namaste"? Who must pay the bill when going along with a stranger? Often
there are accepted procedural protocols to ease the stress that behavioural
uncertainty can cause.
{. Cognitive: Cognitive questions are aimed at discovering who the other person
is as a unique individual. What makes her happy? Does she have other
friends? Reducing cognitive uncertainty means acquiring information that
allows you to discard many of these possibilities. That's the kind of
uncertainty reduction Berger's theory addresses.

AN AXIOMATIVE THEORY: CERTAINTY ABOUT LINCERTAINTY

.t Eight key variables of relationship development: Verbal ou@ut, nonverbal

warmth, information seeking, self-disclosure, reciprocity, similarity, liking,
shared networks. Axioms are traditionally regarded as self-evident truths that
require no additional proof.
l Verbal output: As uncertainty is further reduced, the amount of verbal
communication will increase.
2. Nonverbal warmth: As nonverbal affiliative expressiveness increases,
uncertainty levels will decrease in an initial interaction situation.
Information seeking: High levels of uncertainty cause increase in information
seeking behaviour. As uncertainty levels decline, information-seeking
behaviour decreases.
4. Self-disclosure: High levels of uncertainty in a relationship cause deqiS
the intimacy level of communication content. Low levels of urrcffifu*y
produce high levels of intimacy. People express attitudes, values, and fbdings
when they have good idea what the listener's response will be.
5. Reciprocitv: High levels of uncertainfy produce high rates of reciprocity. Low
levels of uncertainty produce low levels of reciprocity.
6. Similarity: Similarities between persons reduce uncertainty, while
dissimilarities produce increases in uncertainty. The conversation grows when
we are able to find qualities that both like and because we both like to design
something on the computer; we become familiar with each other and in other
words uncertainty decreases.
 7. Likine: Increases in uncertainty level produce decreases in liking; decreases in
uncertainty produce increases in liking.
8. Shared networks: Shared communication networks reduce uncertainty, while
lack of shared networks increases uncertainty. This idea goes beyond the two
strangers' meeting.

STRETEGIES TO COPE WITH UNCERTAINTY

{. Berger says "most social interaction is goal-driven". He felt that we

continually construct cognitive plans to guide our social actions. According to
Berger, "Plans are mental representations of action sequences that may be
used to achieve goals."

Overall Strategy:
Build relationship
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CRITQUE

..1. Motivational assumption of axiom 3 as the problem

* Berger's analysis of human interaction is a major contribution to
communication studies.