Uncertainty Reduction Theory: Strangers To Teammates To Family
Lately, everyone has been raving about the newest Netflix docuseries, CHEER. CHEER follows the Navarro Junior College cheer team on their quest to win their 14th national title. One of the athletes that they spotlight is Lexi Brumback. Lexi is a young girl who comes from a rough past and Navarro has been her saving grace. Lexi is a very talented athlete that brings a lot of skill to the team. However, Coach Monica Aldama took a risk by taking on Lexi as a team member and voices her praises, as well as her concerns about Lexi throughout the six episodes.
The Uncertainty Reduction Theory “focuses on how human communication is used to gain knowledge and create understanding”. When we first meet people we do not automatically understand them, therefore we have uncertainties about them. However, we look to get to know the person to reduce these uncertainties. There are axioms a part of this theory that are “self-evident truths that require no additional proofs”. These axioms show aspects of communication and their direct or indirect relationship with uncertainty.
Towards the beginning of CHEER Monica believes that Lexi is someone with a bad attitude that is not willing to truly be a part of the team. Monica begins to doubt her decision to take on Lexi and has uncertainties about her. Lexi also has doubts about the team. She knows that it is where she wants to be to further her cheerleading career, but does not feel that she has people who are truly there for her. However, as the series goes on and Lexi begins to understand that everyone on the team truly has her best interest at heart. She sees this because other teammates open up to her about their troubled pasts. After realizing that she has things in common with people on her team, she begins to open up to teammates and become more trusting. This demonstrates axiom 6, the similarity axiom. When Lexi’s teammates tell her about their past struggles, she realizes that they are not so different. These similarities that are brought to light, reduce Lexi’s uncertainty about her teammates because “similarities between persons reduce uncertainty”. Furthermore, the fact that Lexi started to feel comfortable allowed her to form deeper friendships with her teammates and open up more to her coach, Monica. When Monica saw just how bad of a past Lexi came from, she finally understood Lexi’s attitude at the beginning of the cheerleading season and was able to appreciate how far she had come. Lexi sharing her story with Monica allowed Monica to have a deeper understanding of Lexi and was able to trust her more since Lexi had entrusted her with something so personal.
The Uncertainty Reduction theory is one is believed to be true for the most part. To an extent we have uncertainties about people and are curious to find answers. However, sometimes we meet someone and though we have curiosities about them, we are not necessarily inclined to go down the path of trying to reduce our uncertainties. That being said, this theory is one that is very useful in explaining how our communication helps us understand others by gathering information about them. For the purpose of the artifact, the Uncertainty Reduction Theory does a great job of explaining why Monica and Lexi move from a place of Monica not understanding why Lexi is who she is and Lexi not being a teamplayer, to deepening their relationship after sharing personal stories about their lives. Though the uncertainty reduction theory is evident in the artifact of the show CHEER, there is also a major aspect that involves how trust is involved in relationships. Trust plays a huge role in reducing uncertainty, so I think that we could focus a lot of time on how trust plays a role in this theory. In order for people to trust someone new “the trustor must be able to accept some sort of risk or vulnerability”. This statement somewhat aligns with axiom 5, the reciprocity axiom. In this axiom, one person must experience vulnerability by being the first one to open up, and depending on the level of uncertainty, the other person may open up in return. This can create a mutual trust between individuals.
Though there are probably other theories in the world that could explain how people become more or less comfortable with each other, the Uncertainty Reduction Theory does the best job by explaining how people probe others to receive insight to the person of interest.
