COMM 305 Edition 1nd Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture 1 Uncertainty Reduction Theory URT a Motivational Force Uncertainty Reduction b Axioms of URT c Putting the Axioms Together 2 Problems with URT 3 Uncertainty Management Theory a Sources of uncertainty b Appraisals and emotion c Danger versus opportunity appraisals and communicative management uncertainty Outline of Current Lecture 1 b Axioms of URT a Putting the Axioms Together 2 Problems with URT 3 Uncertainty Management Theory Current Lecture URT Axioms 1 Verbal Communication The more we talk we become less uncertain 2 Nonverbal Expressiveness 1 As we reduce uncertainty we are more nonverbal expressive Information Seeking You find out more information 3 4 Intimacy More uncertainty means you won t be very intimate in the topics you discuses 5 Reciprocity As we are uncertain about someone the more we will reciprocate in our disclosures Reciprocity you tell me something I ll reciprocate and tell something similar Ex you tell me about your home town I will tell you about mine The more uncertain we are the more we reciprocate The more we know the less we feel the need to reciprocate COMM 305 1 Edition nd Similarities The more alike we find ourselves to be the less uncertainty we will experience If Mable is a dog person and you are too then you can know what kind of a person she is based on her liking for dogs The more similar you are to someone the less you will experience uncertainty 6 7 Liking The more uncertain you are the less you like them Through reducing uncertainty you grow to like the person To dislike someone is to be uncertain of them We dislike people we can t explain and whose behavior we can t predict We can use the positive and negatives to figure out which ones go together Not all the theorems are completely sensible Numbers 3 and 7 1 Many critiques are not good because they ignore the scope of the situation 2 Conceptualization of uncertainty is inherently flawed If they have uncertainty wrong they have everything wrong URT says if you want a relationship to move forward you always want to reduce uncertainty DRT says sometimes you want to reduce uncertainty other times relationships need spontaneous We aren t trying to explain all uncertainty only some Uncertainty Management Theory The way we react to uncertainty depends on how we appraise it We manage our uncertainty through communication It can include reducing maintaining or increasing uncertainty We need information so we feel uncertain Getting information itself can lead to uncertainty If you are on University and are trying to pick out where to eat sometimes you have to many choices The main problem these days is not a lack of information but that we have to much information You can never be 100 sure Uncertainty is a fact of life You know that a restaurant is usually good One time your friend went there and got sick The restaurant may have not been good once but usually is Uncertainty is a big part of our everyday lives Uncertainty can come from relationships You may not be uncertain of the person but of the relationship You could be uncertain about yourself in the relationship about the other person COMM 305 Edition 1nd Emotion is important We don t always react rationally Your emotional reaction is important 1 Relevance is the source of the uncertainty relevant to me and my goals Is the experience and the source uncertainty relevant to my goals 2 Congruency is the uncertainty congruent or incongruent with my goals 3 Coping skills can I do anything about it What resources do I have for managing this If you are staying in all weekend you don t care if it will rain If you are tail gating you will check the rain closely because it will affect you Uncertainty can produce fear and anxiety some factors are negative Uncertainty can also be exciting If you have a crush on someone sometimes you don t like to ask someone out right away because you can dream instead of focusing on reality Uncertainty can have a neutral or no emotional reaction Sometimes uncertainty can have a mix Uncertainty isn t always one way or another Sometimes you can feel both You experience uncertainty if it is irrelevant you will be in indifference you will probably stop appraising it In a danger appraisal the uncertainty is incongruent with your goals If you are tailgating and you don t want it to rain that is a danger appraisal You will communicate to reduce uncertainty Opportunity appraisal leads to communication to increase or to maintain uncertainty Rose movie clip was Roses experience of uncertainty reflect danger or an opportunity appraisal