Conflict and Psychological Defense

In any conflict, each person chooses their own way of protecting themselves. In this article, you’ll learn about the most common types of psychological defenses.

Types of Internal Conflicts

Everyone experiences many internal conflicts throughout their life. These conflicts are generally divided into three types:

1. Motivational Conflict: This is a conflict of desires, aspirations, feelings, or motives that are opposed to each other. There are three main subtypes:
   • Approach–Approach Conflict: Choosing between two desirable options, such as buying an expensive item or going on a trip.
   • Avoidance–Avoidance Conflict: Choosing between two undesirable options, like moving to another city with your company or finding a new job.
   • Approach–Avoidance Conflict: Achieving a desired goal has unwanted consequences (for example, eating sweets and pastries leads to weight gain), or a desired goal has both positive and negative outcomes (a well-paid job but with a poor work schedule).
2. Frustration: The inability to obtain what you want or to fulfill a motive. This type of conflict includes situations like the loss of a loved one or unrequited feelings.
3. Conflict of Beliefs and Values: This occurs when there is a contradiction between desires and beliefs, or between a person’s value system and the surrounding reality.

The examples above are simple and easily recognized, but most conflicts are more complex and not always conscious. The more significant the motive affected by the conflict, the less likely it is to be recognized.

One of the most dramatic internal conflicts is experiencing contradictory feelings toward someone important. For example, a young child’s love for their mother may conflict with feelings of resentment toward her. Similarly, a mother’s love for her child may conflict with dissatisfaction with the child.

Psychological Defense Mechanisms

The essence of psychological defenses is to shield the mind from negative experiences, often by distorting reality. Here are the most common types of defenses:

• Repression: Removing unacceptable information, thoughts, or desires from consciousness. A person may not perceive (see or hear) or may forget unwanted feelings or information.
• Rationalization: Justifying questionable actions and desires (such as being late, breaking a promise, or cheating). The arguments used for justification are related to the actions but are not their true cause.
• Projection: Attributing one’s own unacceptable qualities, thoughts, or desires to others. Projection can be rationalistic (recognizing these qualities in oneself and attributing them to others by generalizing, e.g., “everyone does it”) or complimentary (interpreting one’s own unacceptable qualities as virtues, such as seeing quarrelsomeness as a fight for justice). Jealousy, envy, and perceiving others as unfair or selfish are often projections.
• Devaluation: Elevating oneself above others by minimizing the significance of others’ actions, thoughts, feelings, desires, and achievements, while exaggerating the importance of one’s own.
• Somatization: Transferring psychological conflict to the physical level, manifesting as illness. For example, a child who wants to stay home instead of going to daycare or school may start to get sick. If the conflict remains unresolved for a long time, it can lead to chronic illness.

Psychological defenses can lead to a distorted perception of oneself and the world. On one hand, they help protect our psyche from being overwhelmed; on the other hand, they can lay the groundwork for various illnesses.

Working with a Specialist

Working with a professional can help identify internal conflicts and bring their motives to light, allowing a person to stay healthy and improve their quality of life.