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The Relationship between Self-control with Aggressive Behavior

Andik Matulessy, Yanto Prasetyo,and Riska Tantri Maharani

Fakultas Psikologi, Jl. Semolowaru No.45, Surabaya, Indonesia

Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya

Keywords: Self-control, aggressive behavior, student association for environmental and adventure activity

Abstract: This research is motivated by the rampant cases of violence happened to the students association for

environmental and adventure activity in Indonesia. Therefore there should be prevention of violence that

occurs in these students who are often performed by their seniors in the framework of the training of new

members. This research was conducted in student association secretariat of Airlangga University, Widya

Mandala Christian University Surabaya, and University of 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya with 53 subjects.

Both scales were arranged with Likert model. The technique used in this research is parametric statistic in

the form of correlation. Data analysis in this research used product moment statistic technique. The higher

the self-control the less aggressiveness occurs in the student association members. It is important to improve

and familiarize the members of nature lovers to control themselves in all situations and conditions, so that

aggressiveness can be avoided.

1 INTRODUCTION

College students are those who are studying in

college (Poerwadarminta, 2005). For most people,

being a student is a challenge and pride since they

are expected to be the next generation that can

determine the direction toward a good nation.

Students are not just studying in college. Students

are also expected to be actively involved in formal

organizations such as student executive bodies as

well as in student activities units (SMEs) to channel

hobbies. Organizations facilitated by the college

make students learn to interact, coordinate, and

apply science and ideas and achieve achievement.

Students will be more forged into a mature person

and ready to plunge into the community. Widayanto

(in Sitepu, 2014) describes the organization is a

place for students to develop a mindset in

organization and in social life.

Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture

Number 155 / U / 1998 concerning General

Guidelines for Student Organizations explained that

student organizations is a vehicle and means of self-

development students towards the expansion of

insight and increased skill and integrity personality

to achieve goals higher education (Caesari, 2013).

Associaton for environmental and adventure activity

is one of the organizations that accommodate

students who have fun with the open nature such as

mountains, forests, caves, rafting, rock climbing, and

the environment. In addition to channeling interest

in life in the wild that challenged, this organization

have the most important goal of the love of the

homeland, care and love for the environment and

uphold the cooperation among members of the

organization. Based on the environmental conditions

faced, members of the organization are required to

live in a state of limited and draining physically and

mentally. Now it is much preached about the

unpleasant behavior of senior member of the

organization to new members that occurred in one of

the Universities in Indonesia. Responding to the

issue, this organization in other universities should

be able to reflect from the bad experiences that

befell the university concerned. Many senior

members in the organization use the authority

inappropriately. Such as the case of the death of

three members of basic education of students for

environmental and adventure activities and fourteen

injured who are still treated. It occurs due to

violence committed by senior members to new

members. The behavior concerned is a deliberate act

of hurting by a person or institution against another

person or institution that is deliberately called

aggressiveness.

Berkowitz (in Sarwono, 2009) explains that

aggressiveness is a behavior that intentionally wants

340

Matulessy, A., Prasetyo, Y. and Maharani, R.

The Relationship between Self-control with Aggressive Behavior.

DOI: 10.5220/0008589103400344

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Psychology in Health, Educational, Social, and Organizational Settings (ICP-HESOS 2018) - Improving Mental Health and Harmony in

Global Community, pages 340-344

ISBN: 978-989-758-435-0



to hurt or give pain to others. Of course, the

behavior is bad for others, more precisely the victim.

The impact of aggressiveness on the victim is

usually not only cause pain, but also can cause

trauma to the victim which will even lead to the

feeling of grudge to do the same to the weaker in

time, in this case to their juniors. Aggressiveness

will continue to be repeated in the classroom and

become a culture.

Of course this should be avoided. As described

above that the goals of student organizations should

be positive. But, in the implementation, it sometimes

occasionally raises negative things such as

aggressiveness which subsequently became a culture

of galvanizing new members. Of course this should

be avoided and, even more, prevented.

Aggressiveness is related to the low ability of

students to control themselves. Students are said to

have good self-control if they are able to arrange,

guide, assis, and direct the form of behavior that can

bring the individual toward the positive

consequences (Goldfried and Merbaum).

Meanwhile, according to Papalia (2004), self-control

is important to adjust the behavior to what is

considered socially acceptable by society. If the

students are able to adjust the behavior in

accordance with the norms of society, it means they

have good self-control, so it is not encouraged to

behave negatively or be able to avoid aggressive

actions in any situation. It is important for students

to grow or maintain good self-control in everyday

life. Based on the above description it is necessary to

examine deeper the relationship between self-control

with the tendency of aggression on student of

student association for envronmental and adventure

activity.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Aggressive Behavior

According to Berkowitz (Sarwono, 2009),

aggressive is a deliberate act of intentional injury by

a person or institution against a person or other

institution that is in fact deliberate. Moyer (1976)

argues that aggressiveness is associated with a lack

of control over the emotions within the individual.

Aggressive behavior is any form of behavior

intended to harm or injure a person against the will

of the person (Breakwell 1998: 17). Aggressive

behavior can be physical or verbal. Physical

aggression is aggression behavior that is done by

doing physical violence such as slapping, punching,

and throwing with objects against others around

him. Verbal aggression is aggression behavior done

by way of expression to attack other people, can be

mockery, insult, or verbal abuse.

According to Myers (2002), the factors that

influence aggressive behavior are frustration,

aggression learning which contains reward, social

learning, and environmental influences. What is

meant is an environmental situation which includes

painful incidents, hot air temperatures, attacks,

crowds that trigger aggressive actions, brain nervous

system, genetic or hereditary factors, and chemical

factors in the blood (alcohol and drugs).

Medinus (Dayaksini & Hudaniah, 2009)

mentions four forms of aggression behavior, namely

physical attack, which includes punching, pushing,

spitting, kicking, biting, punching and robbing,

attacking an object, intended here to attack the dead

or animals, verbally or symbolically, which includes

verbally threatening, aggravating others, threatening

attitudes and demanding attitudes, infringement of

property rights or invading other areas.

2.2 Self Control

Goldfriend and Merbaum (Zulkarnain, 2002) define

self-control as an ability to organize, guide, arrange,

and direct behavioral forms that can lead individuals

to positive consequences. When it comes to self-

control, all individuals should be able to organize

and manage all their behaviors in a positive way.

Someone who has the ability to control themselves

will be able to use common sense, and can still bring

up a calm and positive view. According to Logue

(1995) self-control has characteristics such as: a)

Holding fast or staying afloat with tasks that should

be done despite many burdens. b) Changing its own

behavior through changes as a consequence of

effects of the existing rules. c) Does not show or

involve behavior that is affected by anger

(emotional). d) Can control the stimulus; know

which is good and which is not by preventing or

steering away.

2.3 Research Hypothesis

The hypothesis in this research is whether there is a

negative relationship between self-control with

aggressive behavior on the members of student

association for environmental and adventure

activities. This shows that the higher the self-control

the lower aggressive behavior arises.

The Relationship between Self-control with Aggressive Behavior

341

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3 RESEARCH METHODS

The subjects of this study are students who are

active in the organization of environmental and

adventure activities totaling 53 people. The subjects

are taken by using Purposive Sampling. There are

two scales used, Aggressive Behavior and Self

Control scale likert model with five alternative

answers.

3.1 Operational Research Variables

3.1.1 Aggressive Behavior (Y

)

The Aggressive Behavior Scale taken from the

indicator according to Medinus (in Dwi, 2013)

consists of:

a) Physical attack

b) Attacking an object

c) Verbally or symbolically

d) Violation of property rights or attacking

other people's territory

3.1.2 Self Control (X1)

Self-control is the ability of individuals to organize,

guide, arrange, and direct behavioral forms that can

lead individuals to positive consequences. Students

who have self-control in this study are measured

through characteristics consisting of:

a) Stand firm in the task

b) Able to change its own behavior from the

influence of existing norms

c) Does not exhibit behavior that is affected by anger

d) Able to control the stimulus.

3.1.3 Hypothesis Testing Design

Research data were analyzed by data analysis using

SPSS version 20.0. The data are previously

analyzed. Process is done by measuring instrument

test:

1. Dependent variable distribution normality

test (Aggressive Behavior) obtained result p = 0,474

(p> 0,05) which means that the distribution of

Aggressive Behavior variable is normal.

2. The relationship linearity test between:

Self Control (X1) with Aggressive Behavior (Y)

obtained F = 144.925 with p = 0,000 (p <0.05)

which means that the relationship between Self

Control and Aggressive Behavior is linear with the

Cronbach Alpha correlation technique.

4 RESEARCH RESULT

Research on the relationship of self-control with

aggressive behavior on the students of student

association of environmental and adventure

activities is conducted from June 23 until July 7,

2017 with 53 individuals who follow the

organization with used tryout system. The 53

subjects were gathered from data collection through

questionnaires. After collecting data, the researcher

then performed the analysis process of validity and

reliability test on the results that have been obtained

to collect items with level of validity and reliability

of measuring instruments. The prerequisite test is

performed. The first one is the normality test by

using Smirnov Kolmogorov technique assisted by

SPSS version 20.0 for Windows program to obtain

result for dependent variable (Aggressive Behavior).

The value obtained was significant value equal to

0,474 (p> 0,05 ) while the independent variable

(self-control) obtained was significant p = 0,991 (p>

0,05). Hence, the result of analysis shows that

dependent variable (aggressive behavior) and

independent variable (self control) in this research is

distributed normally. The second prerequisite test is

a linear test of the relationship between self-control

and aggressive behavior by using Curve Estimation-

Linear technique with SPSS version 20.0 for

Windows program which showed significant value p

= 0,000 (p <0,01). This means that both variables

have linear relationship.

The next stage is the hypothesis test. Correlation

techniques used to determine the relationship

between self-control variables and aggressive

behavior is product moment (parametric) technique.

The calculation by using SPSS version 20.0 for

Windows shows the correlation value of r

= -0,860

with significant p = 0,000 (p <0,01), which stated

that there is a significant negative correlation

between self-control variable with aggressive

behavior variable in student of the organization

Based on the results of this study, the hypothesis

of research which states that there is a negative

relationship between self-control with aggressive

behavior on student association of environmental

and adventure activity is accepted. This suggests that

the research hypothesis is proven. The linearity

result obtain is the value of R Square = 0.740 which

means there is an effective contribution of self-

control variables to aggressive behavior variable of

74% compared with other variables that affect

aggressive behavior variables including those which

are not studied. This shows that there are other

variables that affect the variable Y (aggressive

ICP-HESOS 2018 - International Conference on Psychology in Health, Educational, Social, and Organizational Settings

342

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behavior) by 26%. Then there is a negative

relationship between self-control and aggressive

behavior.

5 DISCUSSION

The results of the research that has been described

above shows that there is a very significant negative

relationship between self-control with aggressive

behavior on students who become the members of

the organization. This shows that the self-control of

these students can influence their aggressive

behavior.

Goldfriend and Merbaum (in Zulkarnain, 2002)

define self-control as an ability to organize, guide,

arrange and direct behavioral forms that can lead

individuals to positive consequences. A person who

has good self-control will be able to organize and

arrange all his behavior using common sense so as to

lead to a positive behavior.

According to Krahe (in Noor, 2005) one of the

factors that influence aggressive behavior is the

personality factor, one of which is self-control.

Borba (in Noor, 2005) states that in an attempt to

control behavior, self-control provides an important

role for the individual. Self-control makes

individuals able to act right. Self control can stop

dangerous actions from individuals. Furthermore,

the ability to control yourself relates to how one

controls the emotions and impulses in him. In this

case, to control the emotion in question is by doing

something by using a rational attitude to respond to

the situation and prevent excessive reactions. Self-

control can make students to be able to control

themselves in performing acts contrary to the

existing provisions. Students of this organization

who have good self-control will certainly have the

ability to manage their behavior that leads in a

positive, while those who have poor self-control will

result in their inability to control their own behavior.

In connection with the explanation above,

Soekadji (in Noor, 2013), mentions that self-

management is the procedure by which a person

directs or regulates his own behavior. So, a good

self-control will avoid individuals with aggressive

behavior to harm theirselves and others.

Based on this research, it is clear that self-control

is one of the factors associated with aggressive

behavior. So, according to the above explanation,

the hypothesis of the researcher is accepted. There is

a relationship between self-control and aggressive

behavior in student of the association of

environmental and adventure activity.

6 CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 Conclusion

This study aims to determine the relationship

between two variables, namely self-control variables

and aggressive behavior in the members of student

association of environmental and adventure

activities. So, the hypothesis in this study is "There

is a negative relationship between self-control with

aggressive behavior in student of student association

of environmental and adventure activities".

From the result of validity and reliability test on

aggressive behavior variable, there are 36 valid

items obtained with a level of reliability that move

from 0,326 until 0,820 with Cronbach's Alpha value

of 0,960. Self control variables get 30 valid item

results with a level of reliability that move from

0.331 to 0.744 with Cronbach's Alpha value of

0.935. Both variables are valid and reliable based on

the validity and reliability test. The result of product

moment correlation analysis shows rxy = -0,860 at

significance level p = 0,000. So, the research

hypothesis states "There is a relationship between

self-control with aggressive behavior on students f

studen association for environmental and adventure

activities” is accepted. It states that the higher self

control the lower aggresive behavior. In contrary, if

they have lower self control, then the aggressive

behavior is higher. This study has limitations on

respondents who refused to be given a scale of

aggressive behavior.

6.2 Suggestion

Further Research needs to be done on the same

aspect to test the consistency of the result of this

study. Research suggest to take a broader subject

than the University in Surabaya both public and

private ones. For the prganization, the existence of

the “high” category results in self-control variables

and the “low” category on aggressive behavioral

variables, which is derived from 53 subjects, is a

fairly good result. So, the researcher suggest the

organization to try to improve the personal condition

both physical and psychic which affect self control

on fellow members of the organization

The Relationship between Self-control with Aggressive Behavior

343

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