The third class of mental reactions to anger is what has been called the
indifferent type. It is attitudinal in character. The subject assumes
for the time an indifferent attitude toward the situation and person
exciting the emotion. Eleven percent of the reactions of all the
subjects studied may be classified under this type. It occurs as one of
the last resorts when there is nothing else to be done. If it appears in
the initial stage of anger, the emotion does not fully develop. It is
not reported as actually pleasant but rather passively relieving for the
time. Subject B. had received a piece of adverse information in a
letter. He observes, “At first, I was angry and at once threw the letter
down on the table in an attitude of not caring anything about it. I felt
that nothing could be done. I had really wanted the information badly. I
threw up my hands and moved my body suddenly with a ‘don’t care’
feeling.” B. reports that he recalled the situation several times later,
but the anger did not appear again. The same subject recalling the
offensive behavior of X. and Y. became angry, and observes, “I found
myself saying aloud, ‘Oh confound them, I don’t care anything about
them,’ and at once started to attend to something else. My saying I did
not care, made me feel as if I did not care; in fact now I really did
not care.” The sudden assuming of an apathetic attitude toward the
developing anger is a frequent device of subject B. A. after a rather
prolonged emotional reaction in which he imagined cutting remarks and
planned how he would retaliate, suddenly changed his attitude, saying,
“What is the use anyway, it is just X., I don’t care anything about him,
I will let him go his way.” C. when angry at times reenforces an assumed
attitude of indifference by saying to himself, “Here, you must not be
bothered about such things, be a good sport and play the game.” One at
times assumes an attitude of accepting the situation as it is, and
dropping the matter.
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