conflict, in psychology, the arousal of two or more strong motives that cannot be solved together. A youngster, for example, may want to go to a dance to feel that he belongs to a group and does what his friends do. For an adolescent in Western culture, that is a strong motive. But the youth may be a clumsy dancer and sensitive to the real or imagined ridicule of his fellows. Therefore, he also has a motive to avoid the dance to escape humiliation. He is in a dilemma; whether he goes or stays he will experience distress. This type of situation is termed an approach-avoidance conflict. Psychologically, a conflict exists when the reduction of one motivating stimulus involves an increase in another, so that a new adjustment is demanded.
Conflicts are not all equally severe. A conflict between two desired gratifications (approach-approach conflict), as when a youth has to choose between two attractive and practicable careers, may lead to some vacillation but rarely to great distress. A conflict between two dangers or threats (avoidance-avoidance conflict) is usually more disturbing. A man may dislike his job intensely but fear the threat of unemployment if he quits. A conflict between a need and a fear may also be intense. A child may be dependent on his mother but fear her because she is rejecting and punitive. The conflicts that involve intense threat or fear are not solved readily but make the person feel helpless and anxious. Subsequent adjustments may then be directed more to the relief of anxiety than to the solution of real problems.
Conflicts are often unconscious, in the sense that the person cannot clearly identify the source of his distress. Many strong impulses—such as fear and hostility—are so much disapproved by the culture that a child soon learns not to acknowledge them, even to himself. When such impulses are involved in a conflict, the person is anxious but does not know why. He is then less able to bring rational thinking to bear on the problem.