By Kevin LaPoint, PhD, Volunteer Courses taught by the Conflict Center are designed to empower individuals to regulate their own anger, mediate conflicts, and build better relationships with others. One of the most important skills we teach is self-awareness, which provides the basis for enhanced self-control when dealing with conflict. For example, students in the center’s classes are taught to recognize how their body and emotions change in response to anger–to know their internal “temperature” during heated situations. Being alert to when you’re losing control in an argument provides a crucial opportunity for individuals to take charge of themselves, begin “cool down” practices, and make healthier decisions. Psychological research has long demonstrated the link between an individual’s capacity for self-control and the tendency towards aggression. Those with low self-control during charged confrontations are more likely to react with angry outbursts of verbal, emotional, and/or physical violence. Last month, three psychologists published a summary of multiple recent studies that provide new insights into the power of self-control. In the March 2012 edition of “Current Directions in Psychological Science,” Dr. Thomas F. Denson and his colleagues wrote that increasing an individual’s ability to self-regulate during non-conflict situations indirectly leads to improved self-control when ultimately facing conflict. According to Denson, almost everyone prefers to avoid violence. Even those
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