Interpersonal Contact
The first interactant makes some contact with the prospective partner, directly or
through a third party, in person, or through electronic means. The first interactant
represents a stranger to the other, and the mutual uncertainty among the parties will
begin to be reduced with the assistance of information that was learned by the first
interactant during the stage of unilateral awareness. The interpersonal contact may
continue indefinitely for as long as both parties are able to identify some benefit to
continuing the contact. At this stage, elements of the identity of the self and the other
become more evident to both parties.
Persuasion Stage
The parties gain a more thorough understanding of one another. To move toward
achieving the goals they have identified as worthy of pursuit, they engage in
perspective taking and negotiation, first of material aspects of the negotiation and
subsequently of their perceptions about cultural realities. Some aspects of the
cultural preferences of the other become attractive, and elements of one's own
cultural approach are placed under closer scrutiny and evaluation. Partly because of
the need to address a new social reality that stems from the contact between the
parties, new ways of defining and addressing social needs develop. These
alternative approaches are tested, then adopted, then dropped, or retained by the
parties. In those cases where new and overlapping behavioral repertoires develop