Although there may be other reasons to endorse or reject the ideas below, social psychological research on aggression suggests that each has the potential to reduce aggression.
d Reward nonaggressive behavior.
d Provide attractive models of peaceful behavior.
d Reduce all forms of aggression in our society, including physical punishment of children, fighting in sports, violence in the media, and war.
d Reduce frustration by improving the quality of life in housing, health care, employment, and child care.
d Provide fans and air-conditioned shelters when it’s hot.
d Reduce access to and display of weapons.
d Apologize when you’ve angered someone and regard apologies as a sign of strength—not weakness. Encourage others to do likewise.
d Stop and think when you feel your temper rising. Control it instead of letting it control you.
d Discourage excessive drinking of alcohol and support efforts to provide treatment for alcohol abuse.
d Develop good communication skills in families and relationships, thereby helping to avoid misperceptions, jealousy, and distrust.
d Pay attention and respond to warning signs of trouble in adolescents, including social isolation, talk of violence, and consumption of violence-filled literature and other media.
d Increase education to promote development of skills involving empathy, self-control, and how to solve interpersonal problems with reason rather than emotion.