Conflicts are inherently emotional, yet parties in conflict may choose to explicitly express indifference. It is unclear, however, whether this represents an effective strategy. Drawing on emotions as social information (EASI) theory, we examined the interpersonal effects of indifference expressions in conflict and the processes that underlie these effects. Study 1 indicated that people believe indifference expressions constitute a neutral emotional signal. However, Study 2 demonstrated experimentally that counterparts' indifference expressions reduce focal negotiators' cooperative intentions through both affective (negative affective reactions) and inferential (decreased expected collaboration) processes when compared to negative (anger, contempt), positive (hope), and neutral (no emotion) expressions. Study 3 revealed negative effects of indifference (vs. neutral) expressions on cooperative intentions, expected collaboration, and heart rate variability as a physiological indicator of affective responding. Results further showed an indirect effect through expected collaboration, but not through affective reactions. Study 4 established the negative effects of indifference expressions on a behavioral measure of cooperation through expected collaboration. Studies 5 and 6 (preregistered) demonstrated that the impact of indifference expressions on cooperative intentions (Study 5) and actual cooperation (Study 6) via counterpart's expected collaboration is reduced when a counterpart explicitly indicates cooperative intentions, reducing the diagnostic value of indifference expressions. Across studies (N = 2,447), multiple expressive modalities of indifference were used, including verbal and nonverbal expressions. Findings demonstrate that explicit expressions of indifference have qualitatively different interpersonal effects than other emotional expressions, including neutral expressions, and cast doubt on the effectiveness of expressing indifference in negotiating social conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

嗯，不管怎样：冷漠表达对社会冲突中合作的影响。

冲突本质上是情绪化的，但冲突各方可能会选择明确表达漠不关心。然而，尚不清楚这是否代表一种有效的策略。利用情绪作为社会信息 (EASI) 理论，我们研究了冲突中冷漠表达的人际影响以及这些影响背后的过程。研究 1 表明人们认为冷漠的表情构成了一种中性的情绪信号。然而，研究 2 通过实验证明，与消极（愤怒、蔑视）、积极（希望）和中立相比，对方的冷漠表达通过情感（消极情感反应）和推理（降低预期合作）过程降低了焦点谈判者的合作意图（没有情绪）表情。研究 3 揭示了冷漠（相对于中性）表达对合作意图、预期合作和作为情感反应生理指标的心率变异性的负面影响。结果进一步表明，通过预期的合作会产生间接影响，但不会通过情感反应产生影响。研究 4 通过预期合作确定了冷漠表达对合作行为测量的负面影响。研究 5 和 6（预注册）表明，当对方明确表示合作意图时，冷漠表达对合作意图（研究 5）和实际合作（研究 6）通过对方预期合作的影响会降低，从而降低冷漠表达的诊断价值。跨研究 (N = 2,447)，使用了多种冷漠的表达方式，包括语言和非语言表达。研究结果表明，与其他情绪表达（包括中性表达）相比，冷漠的明确表达具有质的不同的人际关系影响，并质疑表达冷漠在谈判社会冲突中的有效性。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。