I have an acquaintance who is unable to say "no" directly. Any conversational transaction which would lead to them saying no is redirected toward the questioner.
Is there a single word or phrase to describe them?
It's not cultural. It's a (learned?) behaviour.
Indecisive is not the word I'm looking for. Neither are these.
The use case was that someone was giving out to a group of friends, treats from a recent trip to the USA, and this person was offered a packet of sweets (Jolly Ranchers) which they don't like.
The gift was non-personal and other members of the group were happy to receive them. No rudeness would have been perceived by directly refusing the gift or taking another offering. E.g. "Sorry, I'm not into those. Someone else can have them" would have been the quickest conversational route.
Instead of saying no directly, the receiver then entered a long negotiation to refuse the item without actually saying the word "no".
This inability to say "no" directly is a repeating pattern in their interactions in general, hence the curiosity about a description.
Best Answer
I think people-pleaser might come close to what you are looking for; although, the way I have heard it, that term generally implies a desire to please people so much that it becomes harmful to their own wants and needs, due to being so people-pleasing.
So, these folks (people-pleasing people?) have a hard time saying 'no' due to their desire to please others. However, your example might well fall outside this: whlie the person habitually does say 'no', the example given (with the candy) could also be explained by a learned reluctance to say 'no' (or some other dislike of the word) rather than a desire to please.
For those that do not fit the people-pleasing description; you might say such a person is not inclined to say 'no', or has a disinclination to saying 'no'.
For those that really hate the word, they might be averse to the word 'no'; or, perhaps, simply 'no'-averse.