Proposal Paper Example: Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory

Looking into my life and the experiences I've lived, the outcomes of how I've communicated with others due to higher levels of anxiety or uncertainty have caused me many unwanted circumstances. Personally, I would like to address as well as decrease these levels of anxiety and uncertainty in order to have better communication within myself and with others. Having those feelings of uncertainties as well as the underlying anxiety that has been proven to lead to decreased satisfaction and decreased perceived connections between people (A. G. Prince., 2021). When satisfaction and perceived connections  decrease people tend to resort to disconfirming communication. As we take a further look into Adler’s work, “Interplay: The process of interpersonal communication” it is explained that this response can create negative reactions in communication, including but not limited to, avoidance, pseudo-listening, Argumentativeness, passive aggression, criticism, prejudice, defensive behaviors and responses, and many more (Adler, R. B., et al., 2018). The goal of effective communication is the interpretation of the meaning being understood as intended. While misunderstandings often happen in an interaction when the frame of references is interpreted differently than what was intended (Prince, A. G. (2021).  

The first step to managing uncertainties and anxieties, is to understand what the uncertainties and anxieties are in our lives and how they affect us. The feelings of uncertainty and anxiety engulfs one’s mind which leads to confusion and chaos. This mental breakdown due to anxiety and uncertainty create unnecessary stressors which can lead to a variety of health issues. Anxiety disorders is among the most frequent mental disorders, with an "excess risk of 26% for the development of coronary artery disease in healthy participants" (I. C. Reiner., 2020). With all these issues of anxiety and uncertainty, it is important to find ways to deal with the anxieties and uncertainties in proactive ways.  

By understanding anxiety and uncertainty, we begin to understand our Perception and how changing the percived situations and circumstances can help forest positive emotions. Though there are many ways we interpret the world, we try to make sense to what we have experienced by adding meaning to those experiences. A major way that we can conduct our perception is by changing our own personal perspectives through emotional intelligence. By embracing emotional intelligence or "self-talk" a person promotes   "if thought cause feelings, then positive thoughts can cause positive feelings" (Adler, R. B., et al., 2018). 

Adler presents an important message where he advocates that these methods follow the principles of effective communication and mindfulness.  

There are various perspectives of reality but we will take a further look into the two main levels of order-realities. To put these two main perspectives into words, Adler states, “the First order-realities are the physical observational qualities of things or situations and the second order-realities are our attached meanings to First order-realities this helps clarify that Second order-realities exist only in our minds” (R. B. Alder., 2018). This corresponds with the idea that uncertainties and anxieties come from expectations people hold and interpretations of a situation rather than the actual situation.   

 In my own past and current experiences as well as previous relationships, these messages tend to be brushed over and not taken into careful consideration. Often, people are unable to predict, accurately, what to expect from our interaction. Only to a certain degree and depending on the closeness of the relationship, can a person make a conclusion. By synchronizing and changing our perceptions with different tools, we are able to open doors, reducing uncertainties as well as anxieties. With basic understanding and a will to practice these methods, we can begin to have a cooperative approach to communication as well as attempt to seek mutual understanding. Perception checking can be broken down into three parts; a description of the event; two different interpretations of the behavior; and A request for clarification on the behavior, like this we better better review our assumptions and expectations. "Besides leading to a more accurate perception, it signals an attitude of respect and concern for the other person"(R. B. Adler., 2018).  

In general we are able to understand Adler’s concerns when it comes to fear, whether rational or not, fear of being vulnerable with your partner and being rejected. Relational uncertainty is “the degree of confidence people have in their perceptions of involvement within interpersonal relationships"  (Mikucki-Enyart, S. L., Reed, J. M. 2020). In order to improve and combat these issues and help relieve both anxiety and uncertainties in communication it is important to consider effective communication, and mindfulness. The  

under conditions of uncertainty, partners tend to avoid discussing their questions 

The stranger concept signifies that both, the idea of nearness as well as the remoteness between parties, impact the outcomes of a person's satisfaction in regards to their life.  This is because strangers are ignorant about the personalities of each other as they become anxious and uncertain in their interactions [16]. Also, they cannot predict with some degree of accuracy of what to expect from the interaction. 

Adler, R. B., Rosenfeld, L. B., & Proctor, R. F. (2018). Interplay: The process of interpersonal communication. Oxford University Press. 

Jones, S. M. (2011). Supportive listening. International Journal of Listening, 25(1-2), 85–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2011.536475 

Lin, Y., Gu, R., Luan, S., Hu, L., Qin, S., & Luo, Y.-jia. (2021). The hierarchical sensitivity to social misalignment during decision-making under uncertainty. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 16(6), 565–575. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsab022 

Mikucki-Enyart, S. L., & Reed, J. M. (2020). Understanding parents-in-law’s uncertainty management through a relational turbulence lens. Communication Studies, 71(5), 857–878. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2020.1776745 

Prince, A. G. (2021). Managing anxiety and uncertainty: Applying anxiety/uncertainty management theory to university health professionals and students’ communication. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 14(4), 293–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068.2021.1913946 

Reiner, I. C., Tibubos, A. N., Werner, A. M., Ernst, M., Brähler, E., Wiltink, J., Michal, M., Schulz, A., Wild, P. S., Münzel, T., Arnold, N., Mahmoudpour, S. H., Lackner, K. J., Pfeiffer, N., & Beutel, M. E. (2020). The association of chronic anxiousness with cardiovascular disease and mortality in the community: Results from the Gutenberg Health Study. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69427-8.