The Cognition of Conflict: Ontology, Dynamics, and Ideology - Conflict and Multimodal Communication: Social Research and Machine Intelligence - page 24

A social conflict is particularly important if it is about motives or so-called
terminal goals (like values), not just about subgoals or means. In fact, the means
might be replaceable; one might find other ways of achieving a goal. Thus,
means/goals are more negotiable. Of course, final goals, also terminal, can be
renounced (globally or partially; see Sect. 1.8.3 ) for a greater value, although some
of them are nonrenounceable and, thus, nonnegotiable.

1.7.2 Do External Conflicts Require

Internalized/Mentalized Conflicts?

Sometimes, to be successful, an external conflict requires internal formulation and
the goal of beating the other.
External conflicts might require some explicitness and the representation of that
relation in the mind of the competitors; however, rarely do social conflicts between
two subjects require/create some internal, personal/private, psychological conflict .
Only if X is aware of the conflict between her goal that p and the goal of Y
(goal Y q) might she, as a consequence of the external conflict, generate an internal
conflict.
For example, is in a tutorial relationship, cares or must care about Y's welfare;
thus, she has or should have the goal that Y realizes his goals (including that q), but
this goal is in conflict with her personal goal that p (since p and q are incompatible);
or she might even formulate the goal that Y does not realize q. In either case, she
now has an internal conflict between two of her own goals.
Not all social conflicts imply a strong subjective conflict, of feeling in conflict ;
they may just imply - as in all intentional actions - some decision. I can create a
very fierce conflict against Y without feeling any conflict about it within myself. I'm
fully determined, happy, convinced, and coherent.

1.8 Resolving Conflicts

1.8.1 Resolving Internal Conflicts

The elimination or resolution of an internal conflict can be accomplished in at least
three ways:

(a) Choose among the goals by “promoting” one of them to the next level of goal
processing.
(b) Kill or drop at least one of two competing goals.
(c) Eliminate a critical belief if it causes an indirect conflict, for example, changing
the world in order to make resources available.