Goal Emergence

Many researchers believe that incompatible goals or perception of incompatibility between people defines interpersonal conflict (Putnam, 2006). To understand conflict, one should acknowledge the central element of goals.

Conflict points to how social actors’ goals are at stake. Also, conflict encoun­ters become complex because each person tends to want more than one goal and so their primary and second goals become enmeshed (Clark & Delia, 1979; Dillard, Segrin, & Harding, 1989). To obtain a complete understanding of how conflict instigation leads to conflict messages, one must know about the interven­ing nature of goals. Then one can obtain goal control.