Internal conflict of personality: causes, types, examples, consequences. Internal conflict: what it is and how to deal with it (the nuances of understanding and the possibility of overcoming) Psycho-emotional conflicts within a person

Internal conflicts have been studied by a huge number of psychologists, including Sigmund Freud, who was the first to point out the essence of this state. It lies in constant tension associated with a huge number of contradictions around a person: social, cultural, inclinations, desires.

Types of intrapersonal conflicts

There are six main groups of internal conflicts that overtake each of us from time to time.

1. Motivational - the collision of different motives.
2. Moral - the clash of our desires and responsibilities. Very often it arises as a result of a discrepancy between our desires and the requirements of parents or the environment.
3. Lack of fulfillment or inferiority complex. An internal conflict of this kind arises if your desires do not turn into reality. He often refers to dissatisfaction with his appearance, or abilities.
4. Inter-role conflict occurs when a person takes on two roles and cannot determine which one is more suitable for him. For example, a woman is a careerist or a mother.
5. An adaptive conflict arises if the requirements for the surrounding world do not correspond to the possibilities. Often found in the professional field.
6. Inadequate self-esteem arises as a result of discrepancies between one's personal claims and an assessment of opportunities.

Causes of intrapersonal conflict

As we have said, internal conflict is a normal human process that develops. In fact, this is the result of a constant search for oneself, a struggle for a certain place in life. But if they are not resolved in time, they can lead a person into a complete existential vacuum, which is akin to a feeling of emptiness and abandonment. Such a state can end in a serious disorder, which is characterized by the belief in the absolute absence of the meaning of life.

Among the most common causes are conflict, different aspirations, multiple wishes, and difficulty in prioritizing. These are contradictions in the sphere of interests, goals, motives. The lack of opportunities to realize something, and at the same time the inability to ignore your desire. This is a special manifestation of a completely normal interaction of various components of a person's personality.

It is interesting that an internal conflict arises only when two equal forces press on a person. If one of them is not equally important as the second, we choose the most optimal option and avoid conflict.

How to resolve internal conflict?

Despite the fact that internal conflicts are a normal state of a developing person, they must be resolved or try to prevent. There are specific techniques for this. We will give you some tips that will help you understand the problem and begin to resolve it.

Start by knowing yourself. It is very important to specifically understand all your pros and cons. Thus, in your eyes, you will become a well-defined, whole person.

Analyze your mistakes and shortcomings in terms of obstacles to unlocking your potential. Often a huge number of factors that hinder its development are concentrated in a person:

• The habit of shifting responsibility
• Faith in others but not in yourself
• Habitual hypocrisy
• Unwillingness to pursue and defend your happiness
• Independent blunting of one's own strength, which stimulates the development
• Obsession with the unimportant and unimportant

If a person has no desire to develop, he has no taste for life, and panic attacks have become constant companions - this is not yet an internal Psychologist who will quickly cope with such problems. It is worse if a person does not understand his thoughts. Here it is already worth sounding the alarm.

Definition

Internal conflict is the contradictions that arise in a person in the subconscious. The patient most often does not understand what it is and describes his situation as emotional problems that cannot be solved.

Depression is an indispensable companion of the internal conflict of the personality and depends only on the person whether he can overcome it or not.

A person suffering from internal conflict thinks negatively, he lacks rational thinking.

It is important to know that a neglected form of conflict leads to neurotic and even mental illness. Therefore, it is so important to worry in time and start treatment. It will depend on how large the internal conflict is. This means that the specialist will first have to classify the problem and only then take on its solution.

Classification of conflicts

First of all, a person who understands that he has a problem must familiarize himself with the terms. Indeed, most often people come at an already advanced stage, and then the work of only a psychologist gives a small result.

To date, scientists distinguish only two types of internal conflicts:

1. Human feelings do not correspond to the rules of society.
2. Disagreement with society or the presence of irritating factors have a bad effect on the subtle mental organization of a person.

Also highlight the levels of contradictions. The latter appear in a person in the subconscious.

1. The balance of the patient's inner world.
2. Internal conflict.
3. Life crisis.

The first level is determined by the fact that a person resolves internal conflicts himself.

But an internal conflict is when a person cannot solve his problems. In this case, all areas of life fail, and the conflict only gets worse.

The crisis of life is determined by the impossibility of implementing the plans and programs drawn in the head. Until the contradiction is resolved, a person cannot even perform the necessary vital functions.

It must be understood that all contradictions of any level are subject to resolution. It all depends on how high they are and whether it is possible to eliminate them or refuse them.

In order for the balance of the inner world to be disturbed, only personal characteristics are not enough. There must be suitable situations. They are external and internal. The external ones include the satisfaction of deep motives. An example would be a situation where satisfied needs give rise to other needs; or fighting with nature.

But internal situations are internal conflicts of the sides of the personality. That is, a person realizes that the situation is difficult to solve, which means that contradictions have significant power.

Different scientists interpret the causes of intrapersonal conflict in different ways. Most of them are inclined to the version that the reasons are:

1. The reasons lie in the human psyche.
2. Causes that stem from what place a person occupies in society.
3. Causes that are influenced by the position of a person occupied in his social group.

But the isolated causes are not isolated. Internal conflict is influenced not by one, but by many reasons. That is, their separation is very ephemeral.

By identifying the causes, you can determine the type of personality conflict.

Reasons for the inconsistency of the human psyche

The internal causes of contradiction in the human psyche are:

1. The clash of personal needs and social norms.
2. Divergence of social role and status.
3. Mismatches of norms and values ​​of society.
4. conflict of interest.

All causes of intrapersonal conflict are due to the fact that a person cannot satisfy his fundamental needs and life motives. And if they mean a lot to a person or a deep meaning is invested in them, then this only exacerbates the problem.

External causes that are associated with the position of a person in his social group include:

1. A physical obstacle that makes it impossible to meet your needs.
2. Physiological resources that do not allow you to satisfy the need.
3. In order to satisfy the needs, there is no object.
4. Social conditions that make the satisfaction of needs impossible.

In addition to the causes of intrapersonal conflict associated with social status, there are also causes that are related to social organization. The following points can be highlighted:

1. The discrepancy between the working conditions and the requirements that apply to the result.
2. The difference between rights and responsibilities.
3. Organizational values ​​do not match the personal values ​​of the employee.
4. The social role does not correspond to the status in society.
5. There is no opportunity to create and self-actualize.
6. Tasks and requirements are put forward such that they exclude each other.

In modern realities, it is often the cause of conflict that moral norms come into dissonance with the desire to make a profit. But more often than not, this happens only when a person begins to save his first money and look for a place in life.

All because in market relations a person is forced to compete with other people, which means that sooner or later hostility to society will turn into hostility towards oneself. This is how the internal conflict begins. In our society, absolutely opposite things are required from a participant in market relations. He must be aggressive in order to win his place, but at the same time cultivate altruism and other virtues in himself. It is precisely such mutually exclusive demands that are fertile ground for internal conflict.

Benefits of internal conflict

If a person has found symptoms of a conflict in himself, then what should he do? It depends on the individual. If a person is strong in spirit, then an internal conflict will push him to a reassessment of values, a change in some beliefs.

Psychologists specializing in intrapersonal conflicts identify the following positive factors:

1. A person who is in conflict mobilizes his forces and finds a way out of the situation.
2. The patient soberly assesses the situation, looking at it from the side. Thus, he can rethink his problems and solve them.
3. A person's self-esteem rises after he solves his problem.
4. Rational thinking appears, which does not work with intrapersonal conflict.
5. A person cognizes himself, which means that through inner harmony he relates better to society.
6. While a person is looking for a solution to his problems, he may discover a potential that he did not suspect because of low self-esteem.

But in order to get it all, you should not be shy and seek help from a specialist. In this case, you do not need to self-medicate, because only a few can really solve the problem. An aggravating circumstance is that neurotic illnesses, which are present at an advanced stage of the conflict, only complicate the search for solutions.

The danger of conflict

As harmless as this term may sound, it should not be underestimated. Of course, much depends on the individual, but nevertheless, the negative consequences manifest themselves in the same way for everyone, just for someone in a more vivid form. So, internal conflict is what prevents a person from revealing his personality, establishing communication with other people. A person cannot show his strengths and from this begins to burn out.

Internal contradictions become a permanent cause for suffering. I don’t want to do anything, my hands drop, the feeling of inner emptiness grows, and self-confidence is melting before our eyes.

If left untreated, the problem can lead to a nervous breakdown. And this person will get off easy. Launched intrapersonal conflict leads to serious psychiatric diseases. Therefore, you should not start the problem and think that it will resolve itself. It will not resolve, which means you need to look for a good specialist.

Multiple personalities

There is such a phenomenon in psychiatry. What should be done in such a situation? Contact a professional. But treatment doesn't always work.

An example is a story that happened in America. American Billy Milligan was convicted, but when he appeared in the courtroom, he did not understand what was happening. The jurors listened to several people, and everything would be fine, but only the defendant spoke the whole process. His habits changed, his manner of speaking, and even an accent appeared. Billy could act cheeky, smoke in the courtroom, dilute his monologue with prison jargon. And after two minutes the voice became higher, coquettishness appeared in the behavior, and the accused began to express himself very gracefully.

After all sorts of research, scientists came to the conclusion that Billy had a diagnosis of "multiple personality disorder." There were twenty-four completely formed personalities in his mind. Periodically, he felt like an attractive woman, then a politician, then a small child or a prisoner.

Still, this is an extreme state of internal conflict. As a rule, with timely access to a doctor, such complications can be avoided.

Forms of intrapersonal conflict

To determine how to get rid of internal conflict, you need to understand in what form it manifests itself. There are six forms:

1. Neurasthenia. A person becomes irritable, working capacity decreases, he does not sleep well. Frequent headaches appear, sleep is disturbed. Depression becomes a constant companion. In fact, neurasthenia is one of the types of neurosis. And there is such a neuropsychic disorder, because the internal conflict is resolved incorrectly or ineffectively. Neurasthenic symptoms usually occur when a person is exposed to factors that injure his psyche for a long time.
2. Euphoria. A person becomes excessively cheerful in public, expresses his positive emotions without caring about the appropriateness of the situation, laughs with tears in his eyes. This form of conflict is characterized by psychomotor arousal and activity - both mimic and motor.
3. Regression. One who has this form of conflict begins to behave very primitively and tries to avoid responsibility for his actions. This is a kind of psychological protection, that is, a person consciously returns to where he felt protected. If a person begins to regress, then this is a direct sign of a neurotic or infantile personality.
4. Projection. This form is characterized by the fact that the person begins to attribute shortcomings to another person, to criticize other people. The form was called classical projection or protection, which implies its connection with psychological protection.
5. Nomadism. Man gravitates towards frequent changes. This may be a constant change of partner, job or place of residence.
6. Rationalism. In this form of conflict, a person tends to justify his actions and actions. That is, a person tries to reformulate his true motives, feelings and thoughts so that his own behavior does not cause protest. This behavior can be explained by the fact that a person wants to respect himself and maintain dignity in his own eyes.

Ways to resolve the conflict

If a person does not understand the problem of internal conflict and does not want to turn to psychologists, then you can try to cope with the phenomenon on your own. But you still have to attract close people. So, there are several ways to resolve conflicts and disagreements. Let's consider each separately.

Compromise

To resolve the internal conflict, you can try compromise solutions. That is, before you solve the problem, you need to give yourself the appearance of a choice. For example, where to go: tennis or chess? And then you need to choose the third option, for example, athletics. Don't give yourself a chance to doubt.

You should not always try to choose, you can combine - this is a compromise. After all, to cook sandwiches with ham and cheese, you do not need to choose in the store what to buy: cheese or ham. To satisfy the need, you should take both this and that, and a little bit.

You can also refuse to solve the problem and become a fatalist. That is, a person accepts everything that fate gives, and does not interfere with the course of events.

There is an example when a person was cured of an internal conflict, just by closing his mind to thoughts that he considers unacceptable. This man's name is William Stanley Milligan, and he simply refused to implement what he considered unacceptable for himself.

To successfully cope with the problem, sometimes it is enough to adapt to certain circumstances. But this behavior should not become a habit. But it is very necessary to correct your own foundations and values.

dreams

Some experts advise embellishing problems, thereby starting to fantasize. This means that a person will live in his fantasies and all his "wants and musts" will not conflict with each other. But still, most psychologists do not take this method seriously. In their opinion, it is better not to hide behind fantasies, but to cheer yourself up in difficult situations. The phrase that there are no hopeless situations is perfect for this purpose.

Acceptance of one's own worth

Each person has strengths, and in order to find them, a person needs to understand himself. Most often, people do not pay due attention to their achievements. Therefore, they constantly complain that they do not have enough opportunities. But the point is not the lack of the latter, but the fact that a person does not want to see ways to solve the problem. We can say that internal conflict is a biased attitude of a person towards himself. And all you need to do is sit down and think about how a person compares favorably with the rest. If you find in yourself something that deserves respect and is a strength, then overcoming internal conflicts will cease to be a problem.

Conflicts arise mainly due to the fact that a person does not understand himself what he is valuable for, but tries to prove it to others. No one will mock and humiliate a strong person, because he respects himself, which means that others respect him.

purpose

Internal conflicts destroy a person, because in this struggle there are only losers. A person with pleasure shifts responsibility for himself to other people or adapts to society. But if a person has found his destiny, then inner harmony is restored. The personality becomes strong and, thanks to the internal attitude, does not allow something to be imposed on itself or to confuse itself.

Simply put, to be happy you need a favorite thing. It will be a source of good emotions, inspiration and vitality. It is a person who understands his destiny, strong in spirit, happy and able to solve any problems.

Care

The person consciously avoids solving the problem. It is not necessary to make a difficult choice, which means that the person experiences relief for a certain period. In fact, a person simply waits for the problem to disappear by itself, and if it does not disappear, then the conflict only gets worse.

Sublimation

The internal conflict is resolved by this method due to the fact that the person translates psychic energy into acceptable forms. This is one of the most effective methods, as it allows not only to find the cause, but also to influence it. The ability to sublimate must be developed by constant exercises, despite the fact that all people have it.

Reorientation

In this way, people must first understand the reason that provoked the conflict, and who or what provoked it. In order to apply reorientation, you need to master the ability to manage motivation. The method is not fast, but the result is guaranteed to be excellent. If you can’t figure out your own value system on your own, then you need to contact a specialist. Under the guidance of a psychologist, it will be much easier to get rid of the conflict.

crowding out

If a person tries to force out unacceptable thoughts and motives for himself, then this is also considered a way to get rid of the conflict. Usually infantile immature personalities resort to this method. It is easier for them to forget something or forbid themselves to think about it than to try to eliminate the cause. The position of the ostrich in the sand is not effective, if only because not noticing the problem does not mean eradicating it. The likelihood of a recurrence of the conflict is high, and it is not a fact that it will not be in a more serious form.

Correction

Every person has some ideas about himself. The essence of the method lies in the fact that the struggle is not with the cause of the conflict, but with the individual's own ideas about it. That is, it is easier not to look for ways to eradicate the cause, but simply to change the attitude towards the latter. The effect of the method is rather average, although there are people whom it really helped. In general, if a person understands that he has a problem and needs to be solved, then he himself must choose the ways to solve it. After all, the result depends to a greater extent on self-confidence.

Conclusion

1. Intrapersonal conflict is a serious problem that should not be underestimated. Lack of proper attention and search for ways to resolve the conflict can lead to numerous diseases, including psychiatric ones.
2. There are quite a few reasons for the internal conflict, which means that you do not need to act on advice on the Internet or from friends. Everyone has different situations and reasons for this or that behavior. Just because it works for one person doesn't mean it will work for another. It is best to go to a psychologist, because only a specialist will help to understand the causes and eliminate them.
3. There are also many ways to resolve an intrapersonal conflict, but the same principle applies here as with the causes. Whatever the negative reviews about this or that method, only a person should choose how to solve their problems. If he feels that this is how he can get rid of the conflict, then you should not rely on the opinions of others.

In conclusion, it is worth noting: in order to solve the problem once and for all, you need to know how it is done. And only a specialist knows this. Therefore, do not neglect the help of professionals, because they exist for this - to help you understand yourself.

Man is a complex being that needs to be studied. Scientists not only pay attention to studying the human body, but also understand the importance of the inner psychological world. A person may be in conflict with himself. The article considers the concept, its types, causes of appearance, methods of resolution and consequences.

What is intrapersonal conflict?

In the life of every person there are intrapersonal conflicts. What it is? This is a contradiction within oneself, which is based on equivalent and at the same time opposite needs, desires, interests.

It is very easy to get confused in your own desires. On the one hand, a person may want to take revenge, on the other hand, he understands that his actions will harm his peaceful existence. On the one hand, a person wants to be rich, on the other hand, he is afraid of being bad in the eyes of others.

When a person faces a choice where one should choose something that is equivalent in importance to another, but opposite to it, then he enters into an intrapersonal conflict.

Developments can go in one of two directions:

1. A person will rapidly begin to develop if he mobilizes his own potential and begins to solve his problem.
2. A person will find himself in a "dead end", where he will drive himself, because he will not be able to make a choice and will not begin to act.

It is quite normal for a person to have a struggle within himself. Everyone lives in a world where there is so much truth. From childhood, everyone is taught that there can be only one truth, and everything else is a lie. A person gets used to living one-sidedly. However, he is not a "blind kitten", he sees that there are many realities in which people live.

Morality and desires, beliefs and actions, public opinion and one's own needs often come into conflict. So, a person may want to be a pianist, and his parents, whom he loves very much, want him to be an accountant. In such a situation, often a person chooses the “parental” path, and not his own, which leads to an unhappy life.

The concept of intrapersonal conflict

The concept of intrapersonal conflict is a confrontation that occurs within a person between two motives that are equivalent and opposite in direction. All this is accompanied by various experiences (fear, depression, disorientation), in which a person may not notice or deny them, replacing his state with active activity.

Quite a lot of psychologists have studied this topic in order to understand the motives and mechanisms for the development of intrapersonal conflict. It all started with Z. Freud, who defined this concept as a struggle between instinctive desires and sociocultural foundations, between the conscious and the subconscious.

Other concepts of intrapersonal conflict are:

• The clash between the real "I" and the ideal self-image.
• The struggle between equivalent values, among which the highest is self-realization.
• The crisis of transition to a new state, when the old struggles with the new and is rejected.

Psychologists believe that intrapersonal conflict is a completely normal state for a person who, by nature, is a contradictory being. Everyone has periods in his life when he inevitably faces what he already has, and what he can have if he loses what he has.

The result of the resolution is the transition of a person to a new level, where he uses the old experience and develops a new one. However, people often give up development in order to preserve what they already have. This is called degradation. This can also be a way out of the situation if a person sees something in the “new life” that can significantly worsen his integrity, safety, and independence.

Causes of intrapersonal conflict

There are many reasons for the development of intrapersonal conflict. Three main reasons are:

1. Causes that lurk in the contradictions of personality.
2. Causes associated with the status of the individual in society.
3. Causes related to the status of an individual in a particular social group.

These reasons are interrelated. Often, internal conflicts arise against the background of the emergence of external factors, as well as vice versa. The more reasonable, understanding and complex in structure a person is, the more he is prone to internal conflicts, since he will strive to combine the incompatible.

Here are the contradictions on the basis of which intrapersonal conflicts arise:

• Between social norms and needs.
• Confrontation of social roles (for example, taking a child to kindergarten and at the same time doing work).
• Mismatch of motives, interests, needs.
• Inconsistency between moral principles (for example, go to war and adhere to the principle "do not kill").

The most important factor that provokes an intrapersonal conflict is the equivalence for a person of those directions at the crossroads of which he is. If for an individual one of the options does not play an important role, then there will be no confrontation: he will quickly make a choice in favor of the option that is most significant for him. The conflict begins when both options are important, significant and practically equivalent.

Contradictions that arise within a person due to status in a group:

• Physical obstacles that are organized by other people and interfere with the satisfaction of their personal needs.
• Biological problems that do not allow a person to show their full potential.
• The inability to realize their need to achieve the desired sensations.
• Excessive responsibility and limited human rights that prevent him from doing his job.
• Between working conditions and job requirements.
• Between professionalism, culture, norms and personal needs, values.
• Between incompatible tasks.
• Between the desire for profit and moral values.
• Between a clearly defined task and the vagueness of its implementation.
• Between career ambition and personal ability within an organization.

Types of intrapersonal conflict

The classification of intrapersonal conflict was proposed by K. Levin, who identified the following types:

1. Equivalent - the need to perform two or more significant tasks. In this case, a compromise is effective when partial substitution occurs.
2. Vital - the need to make equally unattractive decisions.
3. Ambivalent - when the actions taken and the results achieved are equally attractive and repulsive.
4. Frustrating - when actions taken or decisions made help achieve the desired, but contradict moral values, social norms and rules.

Another classification of types of intrapersonal conflicts is based on the value-motivational sphere of a person:

• Motivational conflict occurs when two equally equivalent tendencies come into conflict that contradict each other.
• A moral contradiction (normative conflict) arises when personal needs and moral principles, internal aspirations and external duty oppose.
• A conflict of unfulfilled desires is when a person cannot achieve his goal due to external barriers.
• Role conflict occurs when it is necessary to perform several roles at once, and also when external requirements are not consistent with the internal understanding of the performance of one role.
• Adaptation conflict appears when internal needs and external social demands come into conflict.
• The conflict of inadequate self-esteem is formed when the opinions of others do not coincide with the opinion of a person about himself.

Resolution of intrapersonal conflict

Psychologists not only considered the mechanism of development of intrapersonal conflict, but also looked for ways to resolve it. It is believed that a person is formed during the first 5 years of his life. During this period, he is faced with many negative external factors that develop complexes in him, or a feeling of inferiority.

In the future, a person is only looking for convenient ways to compensate for this feeling. Adler identified two such methods:

1. Development of social interest and feeling, which can manifest itself in the development of professional skills, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.
2. Stimulation of one's own potential, achieving superiority over the environment. This is done in the following ways:

• Adequate compensation - matching superiority with social interests.
• Overcompensation is the hypertrophied development of a specific quality.
• Imaginary compensation - external circumstances compensate for the feeling of inferiority.

M. Deutsch singled out open and latent forms of resolving an intrapersonal conflict:

• Open:

1. Decision-making.
2. Fixation on problem solving.
3. End of doubt.

• Latent:

1. Simulation, hysteria, torment.
2. Escape from reality into dreams, fantasies.
3. Compensation is the replacement of what is not achieved by other goals.
4. Regression - renunciation of desires, avoidance of responsibility, transition to primitive forms of existence.
5. Sublimation.
6. Nomadism - change of permanent residence, work.
7. Neurasthenia.
8. Projection - not noticing one's negative qualities, attributing them to other people.
9. Rationalization - self-justification, finding selective logical conclusions.
10. Idealization.
11. Euphoria is contrived fun.
12. Differentiation is the separation of thinking from the author.

Understanding these mechanisms is necessary for a successful exit from the intrapersonal conflict that occurs in absolutely all people.

Consequences of intrapersonal conflict

Depending on the ways in which a person gets out of his intrapersonal conflict, this period may be marked by self-improvement of the personality or its degradation. Consequences are conventionally divided into positive and negative.

Positive consequences arise when a person solves his intrapersonal question. He does not run away from the problem, he knows himself, he understands the causes of the conflict. Sometimes it turns out to satisfy two sides at the same time, sometimes a person compromises or must completely abandon one in order to realize the other. If a person resolves his conflict, then he becomes more perfect, achieves positive results.

Negative (destructive) consequences are the results when a person begins to be psychologically suppressed. There is a splitting of the personality, neurotic qualities arise, crises occur.

The more a person is affected by internal conflicts, the more he is subject not only to the consequences in the form of the destruction of relationships, dismissal from work, deterioration of activity, but also to qualitative changes in his personality:

• Irritability.
• Anxiety.
• Anxiety.

Often such conflicts become the causes of the appearance of psychological diseases. All this suggests that a person does not solve the problem, but suffers from it, avoids it, tries to run away or not notice, but it worries and worries him.

A person is not able to escape from himself, so the need to resolve an intrapersonal conflict is the main one. Depending on the decision made by a person, he will receive one or another result.

Outcome

A person is a complex of beliefs, rules, frameworks, desires, interests, needs and other attitudes, some of which are instinctive, some are personally developed, and the rest are social. Usually a person tries to satisfy all the needs at the same time, which are embedded in him. However, the result of such a desire is an intrapersonal conflict.

A person struggles with his own desires, interests or needs, because he tries to be everywhere and everywhere, to live for the sake of all desires, not to upset anyone, including himself. However, this becomes impossible within the real world. It is the realization of one's own inability to satisfy all one's needs that provokes negative feelings.

A person must cope with his own experiences in order to begin to deal with the problem that has arisen, and not further cultivate a sense of inferiority in himself .. You should start by studying the two opposing forces that cause internal conflict, and then decide how to eliminate it.

Each person at least once found himself in a conflict situation, and not only with the outside world - others, but above all with himself. And internal conflicts can easily develop into external ones. For a mentally healthy person, an internal conflict that does not go beyond the norm is quite natural. Moreover, the situation of intrapersonal inconsistency and tension within certain limits is not only natural, but also needed for the improvement and development of the individual. Any development cannot take place without internal contradictions (crises), and where there are contradictions, there is also the basis of the conflict. And if an intrapersonal conflict proceeds within the reasonable, it is really necessary, because a moderate critical attitude towards one’s own “I”, dissatisfaction with oneself, as a powerful internal engine, makes a person follow the path of self-actualization and self-improvement, thereby filling not only his own life with meaning, but also improving the world.

The scientific study of intrapersonal conflict began at the end of the 19th century and was associated primarily with the name of the founder of psychoanalysis, the Austrian scientist Sigmund Freud(1856 - 1939), who revealed the biosocial and biopsychological nature of intrapersonal conflict. He showed that human existence is connected with constant voltage and overcoming the contradiction between socio-cultural norms and biological drives and desires of a person, between consciousness and the unconscious. According to Freud, this contradiction and constant confrontation between the named parties is the essence of intrapersonal conflict. Within the framework of psychoanalysis, the theory of intrapersonal conflict was also developed by K. Jung, K. Horney and others.

A great contribution to the study of the problem of intrapersonal conflict was made by the German psychologist Kurt Lewin(1890-1947), who defined it as a situation in which a person oppositely directed forces of equal magnitude act simultaneously. In this regard, he singled out three type of conflict situation.

1. A person is between two positive forces approximately equal in size. "This is the case of the Buridan donkey, which is between two equal stacks of hay and is dying of hunger."

2. A person is between two approximately equal negative forces. A typical example is the situation of punishment. Example: on the one hand, the child must complete a school assignment that he does not want to do, and on the other hand, he can be punished if he does not do it.

3. A person is simultaneously affected by two multidirectional forces about the same size and in the same place. Example: a child wants to pet a dog, but he is afraid of it, or wants to eat a cake, but he was forbidden.

The theory of intrapersonal conflict was further developed in the works of representatives of humanistic psychology. One of the leaders in this direction is an American psychologist. Carl Rogers(1902-1987). The fundamental component of personality structure, he argues, is the “I -concept" - the idea of ​​a person about himself, the image of his own “I”, which is formed in the process of interaction of a person with the environment. Self-regulation of human behavior takes place on the basis of the “I-concept”.

But the “I-concept” often does not coincide with the idea of ideal "I". There may be disagreement between them. This dissonance (mismatch) between the “I-concept”, on the one hand, and the ideal “I”, on the other, acts as intrapersonal conflict, which can result in severe mental illness.

The concept of intrapersonal conflict of one of the leading representatives of humanistic psychology, an American psychologist, has gained wide popularity. Abraham Maslow(1908-1968). According to Maslow, the motivational structure of a personality is formed by a series of hierarchically organized needs (see here).

The highest is the need for self-actualization, that is, for the realization of the potentialities, abilities and talents of a person. It is expressed in the fact that a person strives to be what he can become. But he does not always succeed. Self-actualization as an ability can be present in most people, but only in a minority is it accomplished, realized. This gap between the desire for self-actualization and the real result and underlies intrapersonal conflict.

Another very popular theory of intrapersonal conflict today was developed by an Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl(1905-1997), who created a new direction in psychotherapy - logotherapy(from gr. logos - thought, mind and gr. therapeia - treatment). According to him, logotherapy "is concerned with the meaning of human existence and the search for this meaning."

According to Frankl's concept, the main driving force behind the life of every person is the search for the meaning of life and the struggle for it. The absence of the meaning of life gives rise to a state in a person, which he calls an existential vacuum, or a feeling of aimlessness and emptiness. It is the existential vacuum that becomes the cause of the intrapersonal conflict, which subsequently leads to “noogenic neuroses” (from Gr. noos - meaning).

According to the author of the theory, an intrapersonal conflict in the form of a noogenic neurosis arises due to spiritual problems and is caused by a disorder of the “spiritual core of the personality”, which contains the meanings and values ​​of human existence, which form the basis of personality behavior. Thus, noogenic neurosis is a disorder caused by an existential vacuum, a person's lack of meaning in life.

It is the existential vacuum, the feeling of aimlessness and emptiness of existence that gives rise to the existential frustration of the individual at every step, most often manifested in boredom and apathy. Boredom is evidence of the lack of meaning in life, meaning-forming values, and this is already serious. Because the meaning of life is much more difficult and more important than wealth. In addition, need, for example, pushes a person to action and helps to get rid of neuroses, while boredom associated with an existential vacuum, on the contrary, dooms him to inactivity and thereby contributes to the development of a psychological disorder.

Among the domestic scientists who have made a significant contribution to the development of the problem under consideration, one should name A. N. Leontieva(1903-1979), who with his theory about the role of objective activity in the formation of the personality, he did a lot to understand the intrapersonal conflict.

According to his theory, the content and essence of intrapersonal conflict are determined by the nature of the structure of the personality itself. This structure, in turn, is caused by contradictory relationships that a person enters into while carrying out various types of his activities. One of the most important characteristics of the internal structure of the personality is that any person, even having the leading motive of behavior and the main goal in life, does not necessarily live only with one goal or motive. The motivational sphere of a person, according to A. N. Leontiev, even in its highest development never resembles a frozen pyramid. Figuratively speaking, the motivational sphere of a person is always multi-vertex.

The contradictory interaction of these "tops" of the motivational sphere, various motives of the personality and forms an intrapersonal conflict.

Consequently, intrapersonal conflict, naturally inherent in the internal structure of the personality, is a normal phenomenon. Any personality is inherent in internal contradictions and the struggle between different aspirations. Usually this struggle takes place within the normal range and does not violate the harmony of the individual. “After all, a harmonious personality is not at all a personality that does not know any internal struggle.” But sometimes this struggle becomes the main thing that determines a person's behavior and the whole way of life. It is then that an unhappy person and an uncomplicated fate become the consequences.

These are the causes of intrapersonal conflict. Definition of intrapersonal conflict: intrapersonal conflict is a state of the personality structure when there are simultaneously contradictory and mutually exclusive motives, value orientations and goals with which it is currently unable to cope, i.e. develop behavioral priorities based on them.

It can also be said in another way: intrapersonal conflict is a state of the internal structure of the personality, characterized by the confrontation of its elements.

Thus, the following properties of intrapersonal conflict can be distinguished:

1) intrapersonal conflict appears as a result of the interaction of elements of the internal structure of the personality;

2) the parties to the intrapersonal conflict are the diverse and conflicting interests, goals, motives and desires that simultaneously exist in the structure of the personality;

3) intrapersonal conflict occurs only when the forces acting on the person are equivalent. Otherwise, a person simply chooses the lesser of two evils, the greater of two blessings, and prefers the reward to punishment;

4) any internal conflict is accompanied by negative emotions;

5) the basis of any intrapersonal conflict is a situation characterized by:

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A person's experience of his ambiguity, the complexity of the inner world, the awareness of the variability of his own desires and claims, often the impossibility of their realization, fluctuations in self-esteem, the struggle of motives - all this is a field of intrapersonal conflicts. However, there are conditions that contribute to their occurrence. Let's consider them in more detail.

It is generally recognized that intrapersonal conflicts cannot arise without the influence of the environment on the personality, including the social one. There are no “pure” intrapersonal conflicts that arise only because of internal actions. They can be divided into two groups based on the nature of the contradictions underlying the conflict.

* arising as a result of the transition of objective contradictions, external to a person, into the inner world (moral conflicts, adaptation, etc.);

* arising from the contradictions of the inner world of the individual (motivational conflicts, the conflict of inadequate self-esteem), which reflect the attitude of the individual to the environment.

E. Donchenko and T. Titarenko identify three levels of development of psychological contradiction:

* psychological balance of the inner world of the individual;

* imbalance, complication, difficulty in the main activities, the projection of psychological discomfort at work, communication with others (intrapersonal conflict);

* the impossibility of implementing plans and programs, the "gap of life", the inability to perform one's vital functions until the contradiction (life crisis) is resolved. Dmitriev A.V. Conflictology. - M.: Gardariki, 2000.- p. 69.

At each of these levels it is possible to resolve the contradiction. This possibility depends on what a person needs for normal life, what his needs are threatened with refusal. It may also be that a person never reaches an intrapersonal conflict, devoting his whole life to satisfying elementary needs, living according to the scheme: eat, you can sleep, sleep, you can eat. But often the contradiction develops further, develops into an internal conflict. Why is this happening?

It turns out that in order for an intrapersonal conflict to arise, the presence of personal and situational conditions is necessary.

Among personal conditions, the presence of an individual is usually called:

* complex inner world and actualization of this complexity;

* a complex and developed hierarchy of needs and motives;

* high level of development of feelings and values;

* complexly organized and developed cognitive structure, the individual's ability to introspection and self-reflection. Situational conditions that make intrapersonal conflict relevant are studied in the works of V. Merlin. These conditions are external and internal.

* The external conditions of the conflict are reduced to the fact that the satisfaction of any deep and active motives and attitudes of the personality becomes completely impossible or is under threat: already in the struggle with nature, difficulties and obstacles arise to satisfy the motives and attitudes of the personality; satisfaction of some motives inevitably gives rise to the emergence of new, not yet satisfied motives; social life requires the restriction of various motives, sometimes very deep, for example, the desire to preserve life.

Internal conflict arises only when external circumstances give rise to certain internal conditions.

* The internal conditions of the conflict are reduced to a contradiction between the various sides of the personality: these sides must be significant; they should be of approximately equal importance to the individual; the individual is aware of the subjective insolubility of the situation. Conflict occurs when a person feels that he is not able to change the situation. As a result, a person is acutely experiencing a situation of choice, emotionally immersed in it.

Experience is a form of personality activity in which a contradiction is recognized and the process of its resolution at the subjective level is underway. Experience is an emotionally colored state of a person. Among the changing characteristics of the subject, referred to as variable states, activation and emotional characteristics are often distinguished.

Activation characteristics reflect the physiological security of the mental state. Along with activation, often refer to the emotional components of the mental state. For a long time, the state in psychology was studied precisely as an emotional state, with which the presence of certain experiences is usually identified. The traditional nature of highlighting the emotional characteristics of a state is related to the fact that they give the mental state a subjective certainty, thereby making it a phenomenon accessible to direct study.

In an intrapersonal conflict, the emotional component is represented by psycho-emotional stress. It is usually referred to the class of emotional phenomena. Psycho-emotional tension is a form of representation in the human psyche of the personal meaning of the events taking place in his life and reflects the degree of satisfaction of his needs. Psychoemotional stress is characterized by subjective quality (modality) and subject content.

According to the subjective quality, psycho-emotional stress, like other emotions that arise in a situation of dissatisfaction with needs, is a negative emotional experience. It includes such modalities of emotions as dissatisfaction, irritation, depression, anxiety, discomfort, etc. An unfavorable emotional state can affect the physiological processes in the human body and contribute to the development of many chronic diseases.

The subject content of psycho-emotional stress is situations, conditions and events that occur in a person's life and are perceived by him as an obstacle to meeting needs. These are, as a rule, difficult situations of activity, social interaction and the inner life of a person.

F. Vasilyuk considers experiencing as a special internal activity, internal work, with the help of which a person manages to endure certain ... life events .... to restore lost mental balance, in a word., to cope with a critical situation.

There are two subtypes of value experience. The first of them is realized when the subject has not yet reached the highest stages of value improvement, and is accompanied by a change in his value-motivational system. There are cases when motives that do not correspond to values ​​are rejected by consciousness in principle or simply decrease in hierarchical rank, losing their significance.

Value experiences of the second subtype are possible at the highest levels of development of value consciousness. Here, the value does not belong to the personality, but, on the contrary, the personality turns out to be a part of the value that embraces it, belongs to it, and finds the meaning of its life in it. Gromova O.N. Conflictology.-M.: Association of authors and publishers "Tan-dem", EKMOS, 2000. - p. 37.

Thus, the experience of intrapersonal conflict differs from other types of experiences in that: it is usually presented as a psycho-emotional stress; it expresses the individual's awareness of the difficulty of the situation; expresses the process of choice, doubt and struggle; reflects the restructuring of the value-motivational system of the individual.

Intrapersonal conflict can have positive and negative consequences. Intrapersonal conflicts can be constructive (productive, optimal) and destructive (destroying a person's personal structures).

A constructive conflict is characterized by the maximum development of conflicting structures and the minimum personal costs for its resolution. A constructively overcome intrapersonal conflict is one of the mechanisms for harmonizing personal development.

Psychologists V. Afonkova, L. Bozhovich, analyzing the early periods of a child's development, note that internal conflicts complicate mental life, contribute to its transition to new levels of functioning.

Optimal intrapersonal conflict is considered as the basis of moral development. At the heart of the commission of a moral act is a “sick conscience”, which encourages a person to act contrary to his own benefit and rise to the highest moral values.

The individual realizes himself as a person on the basis of resolving intrapersonal contradictions and conflicts. The characteristic of personality lies in the correlation of different systems of existing life relations, which give rise to a struggle between them. According to psychologist A.N. Leontiev, sometimes this struggle takes place in outwardly inconspicuous, ordinary dramatic, so to speak, forms and does not violate the harmony of the personality, its development; after all, a harmonious personality is not at all a personality that does not know any internal struggle. However, sometimes this internal struggle becomes the main thing that determines the whole appearance of a person.

Positively resolved conflicts temper character, form decisiveness, stability of behavior, independence from random circumstances, and contribute to the formation of a stable personality orientation. B.C. Merlin believed that psychological conflicts play a significant role in the formation of new character traits and in the radical restructuring of personality.

Intrapersonal conflict can contribute to the formation of adequate self-esteem, which in turn helps self-knowledge and self-realization of the individual.

Destructive are intrapersonal conflicts that exacerbate a split personality, develop into life crises or lead to the development of neurotic reactions.

Prolonged intrapersonal conflict threatens the effectiveness of the activity. According to the Russian philosopher N.A. Berdyaev, who reflects and doubts cannot be active, in the world, cannot be a warrior - he is completely immersed in the self-dividing that weakens him, he is not sure of the active, creative force that could influence the world ... Reflection, bifurcation and Doubt is a relaxed adaptation to the bad multiplicity of the world of necessity. The state of doubt is the state of unfreedom, dependence, depression.

Prolonged internal conflicts can hinder the development of personality. According to L.I. Bozhovich, ... a person who is constantly faced with internal conflicts will be distinguished by uncertainty, instability of behavior, inability to achieve consciously set goals, i.e., he will lack exactly those features that, as fundamental, are included in the characteristics of a psychologically mature personality.

Frequent intrapersonal conflicts can lead to a loss of a person's self-confidence, the formation of a stable inferiority complex, and sometimes to a loss of the meaning of life.

Acute intrapersonal conflicts, as a rule, lead to the destruction of existing interpersonal relationships in the family, at work. They can cause increased aggressiveness, anxiety, irritability in communication. Special attention should be paid to the problem of the development of an intrapersonal conflict into a neurotic one. Experiences inherent in the conflict become a source of illness in the case when they occupy a central place in the system of personality relations. A person cannot change the conflict so that the pathogenic tension disappears and a rational way out of the current situation is found. Such a conflict occupies a leading place in a person’s life, turns out to be insoluble for him and, dragging on, creates affective tension that exacerbates contradictions, increases difficulties, increases instability and excitability, deepens and painfully fixes experiences, reduces productivity and self-control. The classification of neurotic conflicts, taking into account the internal mechanisms of their development, was given by V.N. Myasishchev. He describes the conflicts of hysterical, obsessive-psychasthenic and neurotic types.

The hysterical type is characterized by overstated claims of the individual, combined with an underestimation of the objective conditions or requirements of others.

Obsessive-psychasthenic type of neurotic conflict is characterized by conflicting own needs, the struggle between desire and duty, between moral principles and personal attachments.

The neurasthenic type is a contradiction between the capabilities of the individual and her excessive demands on herself. When this conflict arises, the high demands made by the tension of modern life play a role.

Thus, a neurotic conflict as a personally insoluble problem of “being oneself among others” is refracted by the problem of “being” (the basal level of anxiety in anxiety neurosis), the problem of “being oneself” (in anxiety neurosis), the problem of “being oneself among others” (with emphasis to “be yourself” in hysterical neurosis) or “Be among others” (in neurasthenia).