Shrewsbury 1

Toshia Shrewsbury
Professor Jones
Communication Theory
10/15/2015 advised to
Rewrite 12/16/2015

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Have you ever walked into the room and felt uncertain, or felt uncomfortable about a
situation? Most people would answer "yes"; to these questions. The feeling that you get when
you walk into the room and you are just uncertain about it is called; Uncertainty Reduction
Theory. This theory was originated by Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese in 1975. (West, R
Turner, L.H., 2010) This theory plays a very big part of human communication and the balance
that it has. In this paper I will be discussing personal situation that happened to me, that goes
under this theory. Being uncertain about things is human nature, you get up in the morning, and
you put your choice of clothes on, make up (if you are a woman) you dress to impress, so why
are we so uncertain about everything we do. Cases have stated that if you look your best, you
feel your best. In this theory it states otherwise. When you are put in a situation you are uncertain
about, does it make you uncomfortable, or able to move forward. Let's look at this in detail.

When I was hired at my job about three years ago, I was called in for an interview. When
I arrived at the interview I was put with several different individuals such as, managers and
employees with the same position as I was interviewing for. At this time I had no job experience,

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I was a stay at home Mom for several years, and this field was very different from the previous
positions I had previously. When I was called back for my interview I was greeted by a lady
dressed very professional and a smile (very warm personality). My thoughts were going crazy
while walking back into the interview room, "Am I good enough", "what would they think of
me?" A number of questions just starting surfacing to my head. When we sat down, the questions
were very simple, and like in stated in the beginning the lady that came and showed me the way
to the interview room was very warm and inviting. It was a very relaxed environment. Once we
started talking about the job details and I was able to advise what my job experience was, I
became very relaxed. We were able to build rapport, and the job interview became easier to
communicate and easier to be relaxed.

With this story it illustrates the beginning of Uncertainty Reduction Theory. What this
theory states is the more you are able to get acquainted with either a group of people or a certain
person the more you are uncertain of what the other person is thinking. With my job interview I
was not able to know what the other person was feeling, thinking or knowing when I first walked
in the uncertainty of that was a fact. The questions that service to your head really start making
you feel like you are ready to just run away and stand in a corner. Some examples on Uncertainty
Reduction Theory that we can analyze are: the verbal output, what this means is the high levels
of the output that have connection with a more positive and greater reduction that happens. The
second example is information seeking, this occurs when you are asking more question, (like a
job interview) to get to know one another more, the more questions you ask. This can be non
verbal or verbal communication. The third example is self disclosure, this is the willingness to

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communicate and form the relationship, were the communication opens more, this will make the
nonverbal more warm and you will see more gestures doing the talking, meaning body language.
In my job interview the more we asked questions equally, the more I was able to feel
comfortable. The more comfortable I felt, the more I was able to communicate the passions and
abilities I had for the job. Honesty and integrity goes hand and hand with this theory, the more
you are honest about your feelings, either with body language or communication verbally, this
way you have the ability to speak for yourself with little to none uncertainty. The reason I say
little is because you are not toward that intimate relationship, example: your best friend,
significant other, kids.) http://www.communicationstudies.com/communicationtheories/uncertainty-reduction-theory)

There are three phases that we go through when we communicate with the Uncertainty
Reduction Theory, the entry phase, which is the beginning state of the interactions that we have
with strangers, the personal phase: which this stage we are able to communicate more freely with
that other person but still have uncertainty thoughts, last we have the exit phase: this is the stage
with in a relationship when we decide if we are wanting to further the relationship or walk away.
(West, R Turner, L.H., 2010 Page: 151.) Going back with my job interview, when the interviewer
was interviewing me and we started to communicate and have laughter and our body language
became more relaxed this pattern fell inline. We were able to start out with just the question
phase and ending it to a personal phase talking about our children.

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What I could have done before the job interview is research more about the company,
have some knowledge to back up what I wanted to communicate towards with the interviewer. In
this theory it does advise the more research you have, you have the ability to know more, and the
uncertainty reduces. The ability to have more questions for your interviewer, the more you able
to handle your uncertain feelings about the other. It would have calmed my insecurities and
would have made the transition a lot easier in the communication process. As I take a step back
and look at the interviewer and the interviewee we are in the same situation, we are both learning
about a complete stranger and trying to show off our abilities. The more open ended questions
that we ask in an interview, the ability to reduce the uncertainty is better, the reason is there is no
silence between questions. When you hear silence is golden, this is not a true fact. The more we
are able to speak, and talk, and use our hands, gestures, body language, the more we are able to
reduce the anxiety that we have, when we first meet a new person.

To close with this theory I have seen this theory a lot in my working life. Working for the
same company for over three years and having began with the uncertain thoughts it still has not
left. In my overall understanding of this theory, the more and more you get to know a person the
more we are uncertain about different things. What I mean is that the more the relationship
matters to you, the more we are able to fester issues that can happen. This theory is very
interesting to me because it is not a linear subject, it is very broad. It differs from cultures, sexes,
and even poverty versus rich people. This theory has is a two way street, because you can't talk
to yourself and be uncertain about it. We both need to have that wanting for the relationship to

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last, and have questions, and answers and the abilities to know how the other person is feeling at
that time, if both parties don't work together, the relationship won't grow.
Uncertainty is an unpleasant feeling but can be very motivational; when we are to
communicate we need to try to reduce it and open up to one another. We are able to move
forward and able to grow stronger bonds with one another.

Work Cited

http://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/uncertainty-reductiontheory)
West, R. & Turner, L.H. (2010). Introducing communication theory: Application and
analysis (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
West, R. & Turner, L.H. (2010). Introducing communication theory: Application and
analysis (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill