COMM 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Social Penetration Theory, Metatheory, Relational Dialectics
28 Jun 2018
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Module 4:
❏Uncertainty Reduction Theory Lecture -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdQHHdAqN40&feature=youtu.be
❏Interpersonal comm theory & heuristic theory
❏Berger & Calabrese 1935 (social scientist) - as a initial interaction theory
❏Really has to do with what happens when people meet each other for the
first time (initial interaction between people)
❏Goal (purpose) of URT - (URT is a laws theory)
❏To explain - how uncertainty in initial encounters between strangers is
reduced by comm
❏To predict - what would happen in terms of comm in the initial
encounters
❏What are the theories boundary conditions?
❏Initial encounters
❏Concepts of URT
❏Cognition - our beliefs/attitudes
❏Called URT so the concept “uncertainty” becomes very important
❏They believe that when you meet someone for the first time there
is 2 types of uncertainty we can have
❏Cognitive uncertainty - the doubts people harbor about
their own beliefs/attitudes and those of others
❏Behavioral uncertainty - doubts about their own actions as
well as the actions of others
❏URT is related to these comm concepts below - concepts that help develop
the laws (axioms of the theory)
❏Verbal output - language and what we say (how we talk)
❏Nonverbal warmth - the nonverbal behaviors that we exhibit in
interaction through other people
❏Information seeking - question asking (meeting someone for first
time asking about who they are etc.)
❏Self disclosure - specifically talking about ourselves with another
person
❏Reciprocity of disclosure - trading info back and forth
❏Similarity - how similar we are
❏Liking - how much we like the other individual (social attraction)
❏URT assumptions
❏Interpersonal setting people experience uncertainty
❏Uncertainty is aversive resulting in cognitive tension (stress)
❏In initial encounters strangers are mainly concerned with reducing
uncertainty (increasing predictability)
❏Interpersonal comm is developmental (entry, personal, and exit phases)
❏Main way to reduce uncertainty is through interpersonal comm
Document Summary
Berger & calabrese 1935 (social scientist) - as a initial interaction theory. Really has to do with what happens when people meet each other for the first time (initial interaction between people) Goal (purpose) of urt - (urt is a laws theory) To explain - how uncertainty in initial encounters between strangers is reduced by comm. To predict - what would happen in terms of comm in the initial encounters. Called urt so the concept uncertainty becomes very important. They believe that when you meet someone for the first time there is 2 types of uncertainty we can have. Cognitive uncertainty - the doubts people harbor about their own beliefs/attitudes and those of others. Behavioral uncertainty - doubts about their own actions as well as the actions of others. Urt is related to these comm concepts below - concepts that help develop the laws (axioms of the theory) Verbal output - language and what we say (how we talk)
