Why the Silent Treatment Is Scientifically the Best Way to Deal with Difficult People

Ignorant and difficult people are everywhere; they are impossible to avoid, and when someone gets on your nerves, irritates you, or says something stupid, sometimes the silent treatment is the easiest way to deal with it. However, there are some that say it doesn’t work. Many say that fighting fire with fire only gets people burned. Well, new studies have shown that it does actually work, and it’s a lot better for you! The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships published a study from Baruch College, which actually showed that ignoring someone who is particularly insufferable can be much better and healthier for you than spending your time and energy engaging in whatever the drama of the day is. Engaging with someone who is obnoxious and irritating can be stressful, and very mentally draining, so it makes sense that ignoring them removes a lot of the stress. If you aren’t giving them the attention that they want, then you aren’t wasting your energy, which could go on other, more important things. Baruch College took two case study groups, 120 people in total, and asked half of them to either engage and half to ignore the people they would meet.

These people were then told to be intolerable or pleasant, but the test subjects did not know which they would encounter when they entered the room. After several minutes, the test subjects were then taken into a different room and asked to concentrate on a thought-based exercise. Results from these exercises showed that those who ignored the ignorant people performed much higher in the thought-based exercise than those who had to suffer them. So, in short, there is really a positive effect on you when you use the silent treatment against those who irritate you. You will have a much more positive experience if you simply ignore them and go about your own business. Also, you get the added bonus of irritating them right back by giving them no attention! Although it can be difficult to ignore people, and many feel as though irritating the irritation never works, and can just make things worse. In actual fact, though, there is now evidence to prove that you will perform much better if you simply get on with your own things and ignore them. After all, we all have much more important things to do with our days than listen to someone complain for half an hour, don’t we? If you want to read more information on this study, just click on the direct link below:.

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References:

• https://www.learning-mind.com/difficult-people-distance/
• https://www.learning-mind.com/tag/stress/
• http://spr.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/24/0265407512473006.abstract?rss=1
• https://www.learning-mind.com/author/francesca/
• https://www.learning-mind.com/silent-treatment/
• https://www.learning-mind.com/im-sorry-you-feel-that-way/
• https://www.learning-mind.com/condescending-person-signs/
• https://www.learning-mind.com/contact/
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LTNJVTZ