Uncertainty Reduction Theory

I learnt that...

Consider the initial meeting of two students at Colorado State University and apply Uncertainty Reduction Theory to the conversation.
MARK: “Hello, my name is Mark.”
SARAH: “Hi, I’m Sarah. Do you go to school here?”
MARK: “Yeah, I’m a junior. What about you?”
SARAH: “I am a sophomore but I'm supposed to be a junior. I lost credit when I transferred here”
MARK: “Where did you transfer from?”
SARAH: “University of Colorado.”
MARK: “What’s your major?”
SARAH: “Speech communication.”
MARK: “Really, that’s my major. Have you had Brian Ott yet?”
SARAH: “No, I tried to get into his Video Communication class but it was full.”
MARK: “I have him for Virtual Culture and Communication.”
SARAH: “What’s that like?”
MARK: “Good, except we have to design a web page which sucks.”
SARAH: “That’s too bad, hey it was nice meeting you Mark but I have to run to class right now.”
MARK: “That’s cool. Hey, maybe we can get coffee sometime?”
SARAH: “Sounds good, give me your number.”

Notice, that the communication between Mark and Sarah is similar to conversations you have had when meeting someone new. It is very structured in the sense that it occurs in a question-answer format especially at the beginning. The questions avoid opinions and have the goal of obtaining information. The information-seeking reduces uncertainty making the conversation more predictable. As the conversation continues the answers begin to develop more of personality and an invoked interest in building this relationship becomes apparent. It is clear to see how Uncertainty Reduction Theory applies in this example and how it can be applied to everyday communication.

(adapted from http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory52.htm#example)