Uncertainty reduction theory
Uncertainty reduction theory is a hypothesis that asserts that people reduce uncertainty and unwarranted perceptions about others through gaining information about them. The development of relationships among strangers is important in reducing uncertainty. The two uncertainties that we seek to reduce include behavioral and cognitive uncertainty (Grace & Tham, 2020). Behavioral uncertainty involves how a person’s behavior impacts your reaction, while cognitive uncertainty focuses on personality traits and thinking. However, the desire to reduce uncertainty is determined by the conditions that depict the benefit or gain from the person as well as deviance.
I have had several incidences where the theory of uncertainty reduction is related to my real life. When I was a young kid in my first grade in school, I tended uncertainty with the fellow students I just met and had not seen before. More contradicting, I am attending a school where there are many kids of my age, and I felt kind of uncanny in the first days. However, as I continued interacting with my friends from the class to play in the field, I’m later developed, reducing the uncertainty. This was made possible primarily by frequent communication with my friends, leading to a more solid relationship.
Uncanny valley involves the growth of a person from uncertainty to full certainty after being introduced to a new environment, especially to strangers. I once attended a youth camping in my teenage and, to be honest, I felt so uncanny for the first three days. I felt that I don’t want to interact with my fellow youths, but anyway, after the three days, I already felt alone, and I had to make a friend. The first moment while we were having a conversation, I felt uncertain, accompanied by a typical stubborn behavior with the perception that she is still a stranger to me. As we progressed to interact regularly, I finally find out that now I know more about her, and she knows more about me too.
Additionally, our behaviors towards each other relatively changed, and everyone seemed confident and certain of the activities and the time we spent together. Relatively to the uncertainty reduction theory, I felt uncanny on the camp’s first days as I had not developed any friendship or relationship with any of the fellow youths in the camp. The communication between us is what equipped our relationship’s development, which consequently reduced uncertainty (YUKSEL, 2019).
The theory suggests that human beings are uncomfortable with uncertainty and seek the means to predict the trajectory of social interactions (Grace & Tham, 2020). In attempting to reduce that uncertainty, people tend to utilize passive, active, and interactive strategies to help predict and explain someone’s behavior during an interaction. However, developing either passive or active examination of people’s behavior depends on the various social, class, and ethnic differences. An example that depicts this theory is when I was an assistant in a certain project whose main contractor was Japanese. Although I wished to create a relationship and understand his background, it was not so simple. I always felt uncertain and limited conversations since he could rarely understand my ethnic language. However, we came to work for more than five months together and parted as friends though I still did not create a strong bond as with those friends from my country.
The theory of uncertainty reduction states that there are three main ways in which people seek information to understand one another. Passive strategies involve where we observe a person in situations where a person seems to be more self-monitoring and what a person is likely to be good at, and how one perceives various attitudes and social-cultural activities. Active strategies involve asking another person about your person of interest or getting closer to the person in the class and other places. The direct strategy is the last way we try to understand other people by talking directly to the person you want to interact with and know about. When I was in high school, I always used direct strategy to interact with friends from the neighborhood and during those inter-school games and competitions. One particular case is when I met a girl who attracted me, and I had no option than to talk to her. However, introducing me to her was not as simple as I had a lot of uncertainty. And before I could even utter the first word to her, questions kicked in my mind, will she even respond? Am I presentable enough? This was due to uncertainty, and obviously, she was uncertain too as I approached her. However, she responded, and we had a conversation from the very primary part of the introduction to a more complex conversation. We relatively reduce uncertainty towards each other through communication, which goes with adjustment of behaviors (Son et al. 2020).
As the theory of uncertainty proposes, uncertainty limits human behavioral reactions. Ambiguity is relatively reduced through the communication and development of a relationship. Human beings dislike uncertainty, which makes it possible to create relationships, accordingly reducing uncertainty among persons.