Motivation and Emotion Lectures and Notes

Types of Conflicts

Psychologists today catalog conflicts according to the course of action that will resolve them. There are three types of conflicts: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, and single and double approach-avoidance.

Approach-approach conflicts occur under two conditions: people are attracted about equally to goals. But, carrying out one goal means abandoning the other. For example, you have to choose between buying a car or traveling to Europe. On the same night you want to attend a party and a movie. Research suggest that approach-approach conflicts are easier to resolve than any other type. As you tentatively near one goal ( say, a brown sweater or a shopping expedition), its attractiveness rises. As you emphasize the advantages ( it is warm, it is cheap), you are closer to your choice. At the same time, the appeal of the other goal decrease, and the conflict ends. People generally resolve approach-approach conflicts easily because they always result in something pleasant. Moreover, the alternatives can be achieved in turn. You may be able to purchase the sweater next month.

When a person is simultaneously repelled by two goals (objects, actions, or whatever) and obliged to select one, psychologists call it avoidance-avoidance conflict. For example, you must choose to clean your room or do the dishes. Research shows that as organisms approach an unattractive choice, it becomes more repellent. Avoidance-avoidance conflicts arouse a great deal of anxiety typically, and they are difficult to resolve. People are likely to waver between the unpleasant alternatives and attempt to escape from the conflict altogether.

When a person is attracted to and repelled by one goal we have a single approach-avoidance conflict. A single option, in other words, has a bittersweet quality. For example, an otherwise appealing career may require a lot of education. A luxurious car is costly. Should I have the dentist take care of my cavity? These conflicts also are difficult to resolve and generates much anxiety.

Double approach-avoidance conflicts have two goals, each with good and bad points. The only available job is dull but will provide income. Should I go out with Agne or lina? Agne is intelligent but hard to talk while Lina is talkative but simple. Like single approach-avoidance conflicts, double approach-avoidance conflicts are anxiety-provoking and hard to resolve.

Real conflicts may not fit neatly into these categories because people often face more than two choices. Moreover, when examined closely, all options in a conflict have both positive and negative aspects. At the very least, the selection of any appealing option limits other choices; the adoption of any negative option has an attraction , removing the conflict and the anxiety it generated. In short, life conflicts are likely to be of the approach-avoidance type.