Mirna Đurić

engaging in positive or negative behaviors towards their partner they're just kind of withdrawn and distant and that could be for example a situation which you know people just don't have a strong emotional reaction just kind of checked out not curious not talking much not feeling much at all just kind of shell of a relationship yeah in what ways could that be more dangerous than let's say flat-out conflict

I mean, I think, you know, so far in the literature, it's just something that hasn't really been looked at that much.

It hasn't received that much attention.

And I wonder if it's also something that similarly translates into how we deal with it in everyday life.

You know, something that we may be

are not aware, you know, could be something really risky in relationships and something that down the line could lead to really negative consequences.

So it might kind of almost fly under the radar as, you know, something potentially alarming.

You know, people might just not pick up on it in that way, not consider it, you know, as risky.

Exactly.

So indeed, what we're finding in these studies and kind of the picture that we see we're seeing of people who feel indifferent in their relationships is that this is an experience that is really linked to feeling unstimulated in the relationship.

So people people start to feel bored in the relationship.

They don't feel intimately connected with the partner.

So they might, you know, really feel emotionally distant towards them.

And like, you know, this emotional bond between the partners has weakened essentially.

And, yeah, you know, one result of that could also be that people, you know, start to look at other potential partners, you know, people who might make you feel kind of more stronger, stronger feelings, essentially.

And all of this we find down the line leads to relatively negative consequences for the relationship.

So it's really linked to people feeling less satisfied in the relationship, less committed to it.

They think more about breaking up.

But also, you know, in terms of their personal kind of outcomes and how they're really feeling as an individual, they might feel less satisfied with their life.

They might feel more stressed, even, you know, show more depressive symptoms, for example.