ABSTRACT
In the heat of intense excitement self-control breaks down, and people who are otherwise quite ordinary behave in ways that contrast sharply with their customary conduct. Self-control by those who partake in concerted action depends upon their ability to respond to themselves. Self-control involves a person's responding to the anticipated reactions of other people with whom he is participating in a common transaction, thereby enabling him to inhibit impulses that are likely to cut off their cooperation. The ability to respond to oneself from the standpoint of others develops through active participation in cooperative transactions. Social psychologists are only pointing to the organized game as an example of the kind of setting in which self-control develops—concerted action carried out in terms of group norms. Psychiatrists are turning their attention toward the disturbances in interpersonal relations almost invariably found in the background of those who suffer from severe mental disorders.
