The Silent Treatment: It Works!
A new study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships provides some evidence that the “silent treatment” – ignoring someone – actually can be the best way to come with someone who is annoying or upsetting you. In the study, researchers planted actors who were given instructions to either be friendly or rude towards study participants. After interacting with the actor, participants had to complete a task that required mental attention. The study found that participants performed better on the test when they ignored the upsetting actor than those who actually interacted with the actor. Researchers concluded that ignoring frustrating individuals the best way to cope. On a different note, they also found that the participants who interacted with the friendly actor performed the best. Most of us were probably instructed by a parent, teacher, or mentor to ignore mean people, but it’s interesting to have some actual evidence that doing so is effective!