High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) is a theory developed by Dr. William B. Gudykunst in an attempt to define what makes up effective communication. Gudykunst’s research began in 1985 using existing theories as a starting point. Specifically, the existing research of uncertainty reduction theory (URT) done by Berger and Calabrese (1974) provided the framework for Gudykunst to take the next steps. Like most theories on communication; AUM has undergone several modifications over the years as new research comes to light.