Presence of Uncertainty in Friendships: A study on Morocco and the United States

University Honors Capstone Project Paper, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2017. Advisor: Dr. Ryan Goei. Submitted in 2018 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Student Project for Amity among Nations (SPAN), as organized under Foreign Studies Seminar Program 5970W (Writing Intensive) at the University of Minnesota. This project was completed in accordance with the Institutional Review Board Study Number 1203S12061.This study seeks to understand how culture influences people’s level of uncertainty and information seeking strategies in interpersonal relationships. The general premise is cultures experience different levels of uncertainty and, therefore, the uncertainty reduction theory can be observed in different ways. Hypotheses were formed regarding how aspects of culture may change the level of uncertainty and information seeking present in Morocco and the United States. A study was conducted through the distribution of a survey asking questions about friendships between Moroccan students (N=25), and friendships between American students (N=46). It was found that American students have more certainty, and use the interactive information seeking strategy more, than Moroccan students. Furthermore, certainty within friendship leads to more direct and interactive information seeking strategies. Relationship length was positively associated with more certainty in friendships, as was relationship closeness. The authors conclude the study by discussing how these findings influence the future research of culture and the uncertainty reduction theory