Equivocal Communication (SAGE Series in Interpersonal Communication)

Equivocation, non-straightforward communication which includes messages that are ambiguous, indirect, contradictory or evasive, is highlighted as an important phenomenon in this volume. The authors show how equivocation can be measured with a scaling method that offers an objective assessment of the amount and kind of equivocation that exist in a message and which can be used in a variety of research programmes. Several hundred experiments, with a wide range of subjects - from children to politicians - support the theory that equivocations occur only in situations where all direct messages would lead to negative consequences, and that communication is dependent more on situations than on individuals.