A Critique of Berger's Uncertainty Reduction Theory

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A Critique of Berger's Uncertainty Reduction Theory

How do people get to know each other? Bugs Bunny likes to open up every conversation with the question, "What's up Doc? Why does he do this? Is Bugs Bunny "uncertain"? Let's explore this idea of uncertainty. Shifting focus now to college students. As many other college students at Ohio University, I am put into situations that make me uncertain of my surroundings almost every time I go to a class for the first time, a group meeting, or social event on the weekend. Berger's Uncertainty Reduction Theory tackles the concept of how people meet other people. In order to explain the relationship between uncertainty and the seven key variables that Berger identifies in this area of communication, he created seven axioms. These axioms touch upon the ideas of verbal output, nonverbal warmth, information seeking, self-disclosure, reciprocity, similarity, and liking(Griffin 154). I'm going to critique his theory according to the five scientific standards that are identified by Griffin's text A First Look at Communication Theory.

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The Explanation

Charles Berger happens to be an exquisite writer. His style comes across very smooth without a problem, hence the Uncertainty Reduction Theory tends to be easy to follow. Berger seems to realize that many factors contribute to the uncertainty between people. Appropriately, the problems have been condenced into seven easy to understand axioms with explanations to each one. In addition to explaining what they are, Berger also explains why they are. Logically, when we meet someone for the first time we are uncertain of the situation. This concept of uncertainty plays ou...

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...ory falls into the Behavioralist realm of communication, whereas I am definitely a Humanist by thought. I don't like the fact that Berger sets up parameters with his theory.

Everything it regards is very black and white. However, in my mind there are a plethora of greys. I also don't like Bergers "matter-of-fact" statements. I'm positive that some think this theory is applicable, I just know I'm not one of them.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory relies on the participants to be of the same culture. Well, what happens if they are from different cultures? William Gudykunst's Anxiety/Uncertainty Management takes a look at this dilemma. If you would like to view an application of Anxiety/Uncertainty Management by another student from Dr. Lee's, Inco 234 course then

Works Cited

Griffin, Em. A First Look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

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