Kelly's Discussion of Uncertainty Reduction
What knowledge does uncertainty reduction give us in terms of a new relationship?
I think Charles Berger was right on target when he developed uncertainty reduction as a key factor in starting out as strangers and ending up with a relationship. The reason I feel that uncertainty reduction works is because I have experienced it in many encounters with meeting new people. For example, I am currently involved in Ohio Program of Intense English (O.P.I.E). The purpose of O.P.I.E. is to teach students from other countries how to read, write, and speak English, as well as to assimilate them into our culture. O.P.I.E. students have to pass a test in English to be able to register for classes at the university. I became involved because I am assigned to a student to help them adjust to life at Ohio University. This program requires me to meet with my conversation buddy once a week. I met my conversation buddy for the first time a year ago. Do you want to talk about major uncertainty reduction? Clearly there was an abundance of uncertainty reduction happening.
I feel that uncertainty reduction is very important in communication interaction. If there were no uncertainty reduction, when you first meet a person you would just accept them or reject them without gathering information. Imagine if you met someone without the benefit of nonverbal, verbal output, self-disclosure, reciprocity, similarity, and liking contribution to the first interaction how dull it would be. The thrill and excitement of meeting someone new is to use and apply all the communication skills that you have to enhance the interaction. Meeting someone new can be looked at as a question. The question can only be answered with uncertainty reduction. If uncertainty reduction doesn't exist then there is no reason to answer questions and get to know the person. Uncertainty reduction should be valued as a top priority if you want to build a relationship after a first interaction.
Uncertainty reduction is an important part of learning how to communicate correctly and how to develop relationships. After learning about uncertainty reduction, I learned that it was a big factor in all my first interactions. I think that uncertainty reduction is an instinct. When you become aware of uncertainty reduction you can manipulate it and apply it to better your experience. In my example that I gave I could have used information seeking and self-disclosure to help reduce uncertainties right off the bat. I could have realized that my non-verbals were very important. My non-verbals could have helped to explain myself more quickly and effectively. There are countless numbers of other things I could have done by applying my knowledge about uncertainty reduction. The important thing is that knowledge of uncertainty reduction can only enhance your experiences rather that hurt them. Learning about different theories and applying them are the best experiences that you end remembering. Uncertainty reduction is the key to forming a new relationship.
Here are some cool links to check out!
Return to the Uncertainty Reduction Title Page .
Return to Kelly's ideas about communication theory.
Here is a link to a page about Charles Berger.
Here is a link to O.P.I.E and what it is all about.
This is a link to many other theories done by many other Ohio University students.
Kelly A. Conway revised
(http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~kc722196/kcur.htm)
on March 3, 1999.
Please E-mail comments or suggestions to kc722196@ohiou.edu.
