Berger & Calabrese' Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Berger & Calabrese' Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Introduction

• Developed by Charles Berger and his colleagues at Northwestern University (Chicago) and later University of California at Davis
• Theory about initial interactions
• Basic thesis:  Strangers’ interactions are governed by the competing goals and dialectical tensions between

• Their desire to reduce uncertainty about “the other” by acquiring information about the other that will assist in designing and selecting effective dialog
• Versus
• Their desire to behave 100% normally to make a good impression and avoid negative evaluation.

•   This theory describes how people communicate one-on-one in initial interactions to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Self-awareness

• Two types of self-awareness

• Objective self-awareness – centering on the self versus the other.

• For example, when you are very nervous while giving a speech to a large audience, because you fear that you will look foolish in front of a large number of people, you become very aware of how your voice sounds, of every gesture you make, etc.

• Subjective self-awareness – the person centers on the environment, others, and/or the interaction itself.  

• For example, when talking with your friends, you focus on your friends, asking questions about their lives and listening attentively to what they say.

• How do these two types of self-awareness work together?

• Both types of self-awareness are common.
• Individuals typically have both kinds of self-awareness simultaneously.
• However, most individual tend to allow one type of self-awareness to become more dominant in their consciousness, and become their habitual “resting place” in their consciousness.
• The two types of self-awareness can be pictured as occurring along a continuum and an individual’s “resting place” can be pictured as an “X” along that continuum:

Objective self-awareness                                        Subjective self-awareness

(self-consciousness)                                                (focus on the other)

• That individual “resting place” can become an enduring trait.
• If the individual resting place leads towards objective self-awareness, he/she may be in an uncomfortable state in all interactions.
• Such discomfort can be exacerbated by challenging interactions, such as job interviews and initial interactions.

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Uncertainty reduction

• General explanation:  The desire to reduce uncertainty is strong when we meet a stranger because we

• Want to be able to predict the behavior of the other in response to the self.

• For example, will this person laugh, if I tell a joke or make a funny comment?

• Therefore, strangers attempt to gain information that will enable them to predict accurately.

• For example, I may enjoy cinema and want to talk with a stranger about new movies I have seen recently.  Therefore, I may ask, “Do you enjoy movies?” to see if this is an appropriate discussion to have with this stranger.

• No matter how much information interactants gain, strangers may seek more information to increase the accuracy of the prediction and know how, specifically, to communicate most effectively with the other.

• For example, I may enjoy cinema and want to talk with a stranger about new movies I have seen recently.  But which film should I discuss?  Even, if I know the stranger enjoys movies, if I mention the wrong film, he/she may think I have bad taste, or odd taste, or am not very smart, if I like a certain type of film.

• Therefore, we can conceptualize initial interactions between strangers as a series of information seeking attempts on the part of both parties as they attempt to reduce uncertainty while still projecting a positive image to the other. 

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Strategies to Acquire Information

• Passive strategies

• Reactivity search – observe the stranger reacting to others and to situations.

• Then the observer can generalize for how the stranger treats others to how he/she is likely to treat me.
• For example, if the stranger appears to be enjoying music being played at a social event, then he/she probably likes music and this might be an interesting topic of conversation, perhaps introduced by the simple question:  “They are playing some enjoyable music here, aren’t they?”

• Disinhibition search – observe another in an informal setting where he/she will be natural and uninhibited.  That is, you believe the stranger will be him/her self.

• While we do not always have the occasion to make such observations, we benefit from taking such occasions when they arise.
• For example, I tell my advisees to sit in on classes before taking them to see what the teacher is like.
• Another example:  If you are thinking about striking up a conversation with a potential romantic partner and you know he/she eats lunch regularly at a certain restaurant, then you might go there and observe how he/she interacts with friends.

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• Active Strategies

• Asking others about the individual, typically mutual friends.

• If the acquaintance is willing to talk, you can gather a great deal of information about the target individual.
• Such information helps you to decide if you want to start a conversation with the person, and also what you might reasonable talk about.

• Manipulating the environment to increase opportunities for interaction.

• You may decide to ride the same bus as the target to increase the opportunity to sit next to him/her and strike up a conversation.
• You may change where you sit in a class to sit near or next to a target.

• Interactive strategies

• Questions, usually stated very politely about the other.  Answers can be followed by “follow-up questions” to learn more detailed information about the target.  For example, “What’s your major?”  and “Are you from Miami?”  
• Self-disclosure, typically providing positive information about the self in the hope that the target will reciprocate.  “I plan to graduate in June.”
• Interactants often use these strategies in combinations.  For example:  I really like this class.  How about you?