You've just finished reading Chapter 12 on aggression. Your roommate—a chemistry major—is fascinated by all the interesting things you have learned in your social psychology course and asks you,

"Well, if anger sometimes leads to aggression, what am I supposed to do?" What would you say to her?
What will be an ideal response?

Answer: You should tell her that there is nothing really wrong with anger per se, but that there are things she can do to decrease the odds that she will feel the need to aggress when she's angry. For example, she can express her anger in a clear, simple statement like "I am really angry with you right now." She can "open up" and talk about her experiences with the source of her anger, or with a third party, thereby gaining self-insight. She can try to empathize with the source of her anger, putting herself in the other person's position to understand why the person did what he or she did; this might make clear that the other person's behavior was not intentional, thus decreasing her frustration and anger. She can ask for a sincere apology; sincere apologies, no matter how perfunctory, often reduce anger in "victims."