Uncertainty Reduction

It’s kickoff of the first quarter of a football game, both teams, players and coaches, are uncertain in what to expect. As the game moves along both teams reduce their uncertainties by seeing how the other reacts to certain formations and situations. By the end of the game your uncertainty is reduced because you are more familiar with the strategy of the opposing team. Similar to an unpredictable start to a football game, when people communicate with each other for the first time both parties are uncertain about the interaction that is about to take place. As the game or communication interaction progresses, both sides reduce uncertainty by starting off with simple run plays or small talk, neither side wants to be caught off guard or make a mistake.

According to Berger and Calabrese (1979), “When people interact, they will act to reduce the uncertainty about the other person, seeking ways to predict their behavior. This is particularly true when they first meet and they do not know one another. Uncertainty can be about both what they are thinking and what they might do.”

The most common way of reducing uncertainty to seek information by questioning the other person. At the beginning of a football game you call simple basic plays to become familiar with the opponent’s tendencies so later you can run more complex plays. Similarly, when meeting someone for the first time you want to start out with easy question. This is called small talk and in our culture is always used before moving on to the topic of conversation. We start with the opening small-talk before moving on to the meat of the conversation. Other approaches are to find out indirectly about the person maybe by asking a friend or to passively observe them. (Berger 1979)

Once the small talk is over with, there are seven concepts related to uncertainty:

Verbal output- How does this person talk, what are they saying?
Nonverbal warmth- Do I feel comfortable around this person?
Information seeking- Who is this person? I want to know about them.
Self-disclosure- Information given to the other party in the conversation, what do I want to disclose?
Reciprocity of disclosure- This person just told me all about them, am I comfortable enough to share myself?
Similarity- What do I have in common with this person?
Liking- Do I like this person?

Your relationship with this person will develop based depending on how these questions are answered in your head as you communicate with someone.

The next time I meet someone I will surely think about uncertainty reduction tactics and these seven concepts from myself and the other party. When communication theory is compared to a football game it helps people better understand and better relate to the theory. It would be interesting to compare other sports like a tennis match or baseball game to this theory.

As we compare a football game and uncertainty reduction theory, one can see how they can be related with one another. Neither side wants to make a devastating mistake early like throwing an interception or for some reason asking the other person if their Mom’s feet smell, at first you take it easy with to reduce your uncertainty for success later on. So next time you meet someone important, think about a football game, keep it on the ground at first, get your players comfortable, and then open up your playbook.

Berger and Calabrese. Uncertainty Reduction Theory. March 18, 2010. http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/uncertainty_reduction.htm