Equivocation

Equivocation and Psychological Conflicts

Research in interpersonal communication shows that equivocation results from psychological conflicts that result when a choice must be made between two undesirable alternatives in a conversational situation. They do not result from generally unpleasant situations, or conflicts that result when a choice must be made between two desirable alternatives.

The situation described in the heating oil example demonstrates a conflict in choosing between two undesirable alternatives. The advertisers would neither like to say that not using any heating costs less than heating using oil because that would be against their interests, nor would they like to say that oil heating costs less than any other type of heating because that might not be entirely true. Both alternatives are undesirable, thus invoking the need to equivocate. The necessary condition for equivocation is a situation in which direct and clear responses are negative and need to be avoided.

During such conflicts, equivocations allow speakers to avoid being committed to any one alternative. In that sense, they allow speakers to plan ahead by reasoning and provide them with “plausible deniability” should it be needed later. They also help speakers assuage their sense of guilt because speakers can reassure themselves that there is some truth in what they are saying, at least at the utterance level.

Strategic Use of Equivocation

The high rate at which people prefer equivocations when choosing between two undesirable alternatives indicates that they are strategically used by speakers to mislead the hearer, and cannot simply be explained by communicative errors like the speaker being honestly mistaken about the hearer's possible interpretation of his utterance. Equivocations are often used as a strategy by politicians. One reason for this is that politicians have to deal with a variety of audiences, and disagreements with even a fraction of them can often have very high costs. Yes Minister, the popular British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) comedy of the 1980s, has many examples of equivocations in such situations.

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