Jared Hunter

Reel Paper
COMM 2050
Feb 15, 2018
The Simpsons and Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Introduction
The animated comedy series The Simpsons has some episodes that utilize the key points in many
communication theories. One of the theories will be the Uncertainty Reduction Theory, which
involves the uncertainty of a person’s relationship with another in terms of how they act and
what they think. This midterm essay will take an in-depth look at the Uncertainty Reduction
Theory and its definition, as well as its connection with The Simpsons episode Bart’s Girlfriend
through analysis. The essay will follow the analysis with a section on how the theory could be
improved in the episode, and then a conclusion containing a summary of the essay, as well as a
reflection on writing this essay.

Episode Background
The Simpsons is an animated comedy series featuring the Simpson family as the main cast. The
family consists of five members, three of which are the children of Homer Simpson, an alcoholic
father who works at his city’s nuclear power plant, and his wife Marge. Bart’s Girlfriend is an
episode of the series in which Bart, the eldest of the three children, falls in love with the church
reverend’s daughter, Jessica Lovejoy. He decides to turn over a new leaf and attend Sunday
school again, so that he can be with Jessica. He attempts to prove his love to her by kindly
displaying his affections, only to have Jessica ignore his actions. Bart gets very depressed, but
after pranking someone in his school principal’s trap that got him into trouble, he receives notice
from Jessica inviting him to her family’s dinner. At the dinner, Bart displayed his usual unruly
behavior to Jessica’s family, getting her to change her mind about him. The relationship goes
well at the start until Jessica starts pushing boundaries and cause mischief, getting him into
trouble (Collier & Dietter, 1994).

Theory Definition
The Uncertainty Reduction Theory states that in a meeting between two people, they try to
become more certain of their relationship, so they feel more comfortable with each other (West
& Turner, 2010, p. 147). It is currently an important theory because “everyday life is infused
with uncertainty” (Knobloch, 2008, p. 133).

The process of uncertainty reduction is made up of two parts: prediction and explanation.
Defined by West and Turner (2010), prediction consists of foreshadowing what will happen to
the behaviors of one or another person of the relationship. Explanation involves the
interpretation of the behaviors (p. 147-148). When Berger and Calabrese stated the theory, they
thought of the naïve researchers who would be “motivated both to predict and to explain what
goes on in initial encounters” (as cited in West & Turner, 2010, p. 147). As a result, both actions
are implemented in the theory.

There are two levels of uncertainty. The behavioral uncertainty is described as “the extent to
which behavior is predictable in a given situation” (Berger & Bradac, 1982, p. 7). In that level,
the person displays questionable behavior that the other person is considering in a relationship.
The uncertain person judges another by their actions and decides if the relationship is worth it. If
the acting person engages in what appears to be self-disclosure or ignorance, then the
uncertainty might increase. Self-disclosure can be defined as “revealing private information
about oneself to another.” Cognitive uncertainty involves using one’s mind to describe the
other in a relationship. These descriptions in one’s mind can be related to their “beliefs and
attitudes” (West & Turner, 2010, p. 148-149). The theory states that if their thoughts of the
person do not match those of their beliefs and attitudes, then there will be uncertainty.

Author Background
Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese first stated the Uncertainty Reduction Theory in 1975.
They developed the theory with the goal of explaining “how communication is used to reduce
uncertainties between strangers engaging in their first conversation together” (West & Turner,
2010, p. 147).

Charles Berger is a communication professor who has been teaching at the University of
California, Davis since 1991 (Meyen, 2012, p. 1490). He first became interested in
communication when he studied Korean at the U.S. Army in 1961 (as cited in Meyen, 2012, p.
1491-1492). Richard Calabrese is also a communication professor and has been teaching at
Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois since 1967 (“Richard Joseph Calabrese”, 2007).

Analysis of Episode using Theory

One of the first scenes that utilize the Uncertainty Reduction Theory involves behavioral
uncertainty. Self-disclosure and ignorance are two factors that lead to increased uncertainty
from these behaviors (West & Turner, 2010, p. 148-149).

During that scene, Bart decides to go back to attending Sunday school after being banned for
mischief. He wants to prove that he is good enough for a romantic relationship with Jessica. As a
result, he assigns himself to be seated next to Jessica. Infatuated, Bart starts to display a behavior
that is unsettling to Jessica (Collier & Dietter, 1994).
Bart: Y’know, the great thing about Sunday school is we’re finally learning
something we can use.
Jessica: Yea, so true. [grunts] I have to turn my chair this way now. [turns desk in
another direction]
Bart (self): Somehow, I got to convince her I’m a good person. Alright, I have to
sit here and behave, no matter what.
Teacher: Okay class, we have a special treat today for pass around: a replica of
the slingshot David used to slay Goliath. While you kids are looking at that, I’ll
just busy myself in this filing cabinet.
Bart (self): Must… fight… Satan. Make it… up to him… later! [sighs]
Bart: Y’know, I was considering staying after school and helping teacher clean
up.
Jessica: [yawns] Do you ever think of anything you don’t say? (Collier & Dietter,
1994)
In that scene, Jessica is displaying uncertainty of Bart’s behavior towards her. After Bart started
talking to her, she moved her desk away from his desk, a sign of uncertainty. Jessica is ignoring
Bart’s words and actions in the scene, which increases “behavioral uncertainty” for her towards
Bart (West & Turner, 2010, p. 148-149). In Jessica’s case, she judges Bart by his good actions
which she’s uncomfortable with.

Another scene takes place after Bart successfully enters in a relationship with Jessica after
increasing uncertainty. Like the first scene, this involves behavioral uncertainty, but the one
who is uncertain is the other character rather than the first person. In this scene, Bart was rushing
to class when Jessica stops him to hold his hand. It turns out that Jessica moved Bart’s hand to
turn on the school fire alarm. Later, Bart talks to his younger sister Lisa, the middle child, about
this situation that got him into trouble (Collier & Dietter, 1994).
Lisa: I can’t believe it, Bart. I’d always thought Jessica was so sweet.
Bart: She’s like a Milk Dud, Lis. Sweet on the outside, poison on the inside.
Lisa: You got to give her up.
Bart: No, no, wait. Hear my plan. Put up with her for 7 more years, then we’ll get
married. Once the first baby comes along, she’s bound to settle down to start
treating me right. After all, I deserve it.
Lisa: Bart, it’s naïve to think you can change a person, except maybe that boy
who works in the library.
Bart: You’re right, Lisa, love isn’t about fixing someone. I’m just going to give
her up, cold turkey. I’m not going to talk to her or see her. Thanks for the advice,
sis. (Collier & Dietter, 1994).
Afterwards, Bart starts taking her advice seriously, and marks the days when he should not have
contact or sight of her on the calendar (Collier & Dietter, 1994).

The situation Bart just witnessed with Jessica made him more uncertain of her behavior in the
relationship. This is the reason why he consulted his sister about the matter. During the
conversation, he told her of his behavior uncertainty that just increased. This is because Jessica
showed behaviors that Bart did not want to witness. This is where one of the axioms of the
theory come in: “High levels of uncertainty in a relationship cause decreases in the intimacy
level of communication content” (West & Turner, 2010, p. 154). What Bart did to Jessica at the
beginning may have started the uncertainty, but when Jessica got him into trouble at school
caused way more than that. Therefore, Bart takes Lisa’s advice to ignore Jessica as a response to
the uncertainty. According to West & Turner (2010), Bart has entered the exit stage of
Uncertainty Reduction Theory, meaning that the person decides “whether they wish to continue
interacting with this partner in the future” (p. 151-152). In this case, Bart decided to leave the
relationship by completely ignoring her.

When Bart consulted his sister about the matter, he uses one of the strategies of the theory to
know about the other person: the active strategy. Berger defines this as using “some type of
effort other than direct contact to find out about another person” (as cited in West & Turner,
2010, p. 157). Bart could not reduce his uncertainty when Jessica is trying to connect with him
through immoral behaviors, so he uses the strategy to contact someone other than Jessica to
receive information and find out how to reduce the uncertainty.
Through both scenes, another strategy is used to deal with a relationship with another person.
Interactive strategy occurs when two people are directly in contact with each other in a
relationship (West & Turner, 2010, p. 157-158). At the beginning of the episode, Bart uses that
strategy to contact Jessica when he first got infatuated with her. The strategy is used again when
Jessica consoles Bart after pranking someone and getting into trouble. She uses interactive
strategy to directly talk to Bart and inviting him to her family’s dinner.

Theory Recommendation
Throughout the episode, the theory is used entirely because of the relationships happening. That
one relationship is the entire point of the story and the episode’s title, Bart’s Girlfriend.
Watching the episode, I noticed the elements of the theory used in the scenes, like interactive
strategies and behavioral uncertainties. However, when I see the uncertainties happening in
the episode, I rarely see any cognitive uncertainties that are caused when encounters first
happen, not after questionable behaviors are displayed inside the relationship. For the theory, I
would suggest that Jessica should think about Bart when she first sees him using a passive
strategy to notice her. This should happen when she first notices Bart looking at her. It should be
before he was about to talk to her. That way, Jessica could have more time to have her cognitive
uncertainty affected in the episode.

Conclusion
The essay gives points on how the Uncertainty Reduction Theory is used in one of The Simpsons
episodes, including Bart’s Girlfriend. The paper defines Uncertainty Reduction Theory as when a
person tries to reduce uncertainty about another person who is encountering him or her in a
relationship. The analysis shows how Bart and Jessica use the theory to become less certain
about their relationship. The essay suggests that Jessica display her thoughts about Bart more
when she first encounters him noticing her.

When I was writing this paper on the theory and The Simpsons, I began to learn that it may be
hard for one person to encounter another in a relationship, as uncertainty increases in the one
being encountered. I have seen situations, especially in media like The Simpsons, where one
person tries to get away from the other due to increased uncertainty. I have done that before with
a few people. My suggestion for using the theory is to interact with someone briefly before I
decide on him or her.

I’ll end the paper with a short quote from Bart Simpson after he receives another notice from
Jessica after he gets out of her family dinner. When Jessica compliments Bart on his rude
behavior, he says a line that is a reference to the song “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood.
This starts the relationship between Bart and Jessica.
Bart: I’m bad to the bone, honey. (Collier & Dietter, 1994)
References

Berger, C. R., & Bradac, J. J. (1982). Language and social knowledge: Uncertainty in
interpersonal relations. London: Arnold.

Collier, J. (Writer), & Dietter, S. (Director). (1994, November 6). Bart’s Girlfriend [Transcript,
Television series episode]. In The Simpsons. Fox Broadcasting Company.

Knobloch, L. K. (2008). Uncertainty reduction theory. In L.A. Baxter & D.O. Braithwaite (Eds.),
Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 133-144).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Meyen, M. (2012). CHARLES BERGER. International journal of communication (19328036), 6

1490-1497.

Richard Joseph Calabrese. (2007). In Contemporary authors online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved
from
http://link.galegroup.com.libprox1.slcc.edu/apps/doc/H1000129214/GLS?u=slcc&sid=G
LS&xid=6206b512

West, R., & Turner, L.H. (2000). Introducing communication theory: Analysis and application.
(4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.