When people encounter vagueness:
Individuals project their own thoughts, feelings, or assumptions onto vague statements, seeing reflections of their own experiences in the ambiguity, because they are forced to fill in the gaps. This projection occurs because the lack of specificity and context, which allows for various interpretations, thus triggering personal associations in the minds of the individuals receiving the vague statement. It also occurs because people are just prone to self-referencing, especially if they're popular or used to being the center of attention.
Contradictory statements might emerge from the receiver of the information. When this happens you can be sure that the target is susceptible to manipulation. The target, or receiver, may make vague statements or replies in reference to what they had just interpreted. By doing this, they allow themselves room to deny what their statement or reply was in reference to, if it turns out that their projections were unfounded.
When they do this, the person(s) carefully crafting the purposely vague statements are tipped off that their attempts are not futile. In which case, they will become more persistent and precise in their methodology.
Furthermore, the ambiguity within statements going back and forth serves as a fertile ground for manipulation in psychological warfare and social engineering on a broader spectrum.
When receivers encounter vague information and subsequently interpret it based on their own biases, beliefs, and emotions, they become even more susceptible to manipulation.
They're in the process of suffering from amygdala hijacking.
Amygdala hijacking refers to the rapid and intense emotional response triggered by a perceived threat, which can take many forms, by bypassing the brain's rational thinking processes. In social engineering, manipulators might intentionally evoke fear, anxiety, anger, or other strong emotions to overwhelm an individual's rational judgment and decision-making.
By triggering an amygdala hijack, manipulators exploit and/or expose the target's emotional vulnerability, putting them into a position to be more susceptible to influence, coercion, or deception.
#psychology