William Gudykunst's Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory

By: Michael Ross

William Gudykunst is the author of Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory. He is a professor of Communication at California State University, Fullerton, where he focuses on intercultural communication. He found his interest while he was a specialist in the U.S Navy serving as an intercultural relations specialist. As an intercultural relations specialist, Gudykunst worked to promote effective communication between members of the Navy and people of different countries and cultures. Gudykunst defines effective communication as a process of minimizing misunderstandings. He believes the best way to communicate in intercultural relations is to decrease uncertainty and increase confidence. This is the basis of Gudykunst's Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory.You can find more information on Gudykunst's theory at the following sites:

D.J.'s research report provides information on a critique of the Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theory by Stella Ting-Toomey. The title of the article is "Culture and Interpersonal Relationship Development: Some Conceptual Issues".

Tracie's research report provides more information on the theory. The research Tracie discusses is on an article written by William Gudykunst titled "A Model of Uncertainty Reduction in Intercultural Encounters".
Arienne's critique discusses how common it is to experience cross cultural differences and follows the humanistic approach to critique the Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theory.
Molly's application applies Gudykunst's theory to experiencing the changes in lifestyle when coming to college after high school.
Mike's Useful Links page offers some information on other web pages that relate to Gudykunst's theory and links you right to them.

Click here to visit a site on the Social Penetration theory, which relates to anxiety/uncertainty management because it identifies how relational closeness develops.