ABSTRACT
RECENT works in the social psychology of language (for exam-ple, Genese & Bourhis, 1982; Thakerar, Giles, & Cheshire,1982) and communication theory (for example, Berger & Bradac, 1982) have made reference to the role of language in processes of uncertainty reduction in interpersonal communication. To date, however, there is no empirical research ofwhich we are aware that has examined the role of language in uncertainty reduction, either intra-or interculturally. Our purpose in this essay is to begin to fill this void by examining the uncertainty reduction phenomenon under conditions of attitudinal and cultural similarity/dissimilarity, and speaking a foreign versus native language. More specifically, the research presented here examined the influence of language (Japanese versus English) on the ability to predict uncertainty reduction in Japanese-Japanese and Japanese-North American initial interactions.
