Uncertainty and social penetration theory expectations about relationship communication: A comparative test

This study compared uncertainty and social penetration theory expectations about the amount and nature of question usage in relationships. Expectations that strangers would employ more questions than friends, but that the nature of the questions used would not differ, were derived from uncertainty theory, while the opposite expectations were derived from social penetration theory. No differences were found in the amount of question usage, but friends did use more evaluative questions than strangers.

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Mr. Ayres is Associate Professor of Speech, Washington State University.