Custom «Social-Psychological Processes Involved In Conflict» Essay Paper Sample

Social conflicts are normal processes in the society even though in many cases they can prove to be fatal and destructive. Conflict is one of the ways through which problems are solved. This paper examines the American War of Independence as a conflict at a level higher than interpersonal (Academic Leadership Support, 2010).

Psychological perception on conflicts

Conflict is one of the social facts that members of the society experience. Conflict is a social process that can take place at all level of interactions. Even so, different people have different perceptions about social conflict; some perceive it as evil while others view it as a necessary process in the society. As much as conflicts are overwhelmingly negative, they play a significant role in the society. One of the positive roles is that they are indicative of problems within a social setting. Without conflict, it may be assumed that problems do not exist; which may not be true. Hence, conflicts expose rot in the society and therefore trigger the search for a solution (Academic Leadership Support, 2010).

The American War of Independence

The American War of Independence was a military conflict that took place from 1775 to 1783 between the thirteen states of America, which were colonies of the Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Great Britain. The war was politically motivated to liberate Americans from the powers of the British Parliament (Eelking, 2009).

The war initiated a revolutionary change in the American colonies that completely gave the states a new social order. The conflict was about breaking the thirteen states from the powers of the Great Britain; the conflict indicated that the American people no longer wanted to be ruled but govern themselves. Therefore they joined forces and managed to defeat there colonial rulers. The success of the war led to declaration of American independence thereby driving away the Great Britain. However, it is important to note that even though the conflict helped Americans to be independent, it had its own side effects. Many people lost their loves during the war and lots of property was destroyed (Eelking, 2009).

Social-psychological processes

a. Association

Associative process is an implicit process and forms the premise on which reflexive gut-reactions take place with respect to the kind of associations that are stimulated in an individual's mind. In the case of a group, association can be linked to the general or shared perceptions about by the members of a group. The citizens of the thirteen American states associated the British colonial powers with oppression and exploitation; they viewed the British parliament as existing to find ways of ensuring the thirteen American states remained colonies of the Great Britain. This implies that they associated the British colonial power with evils from which the American people had to be liberated (Pascale, 2010).

b. Perception process

Perception is a cognitive process that can go on in individual or group mind. The way individual or group members perceive conflicts determines how they react to them. Like in the case of the American War of Independence, the American people had perceived that continued British rule on them would pose more threats to their lifestyles and interests. It this perception is cognitively created in people's minds and this is what stimulates them to act. A shared perception makes a group of individuals to act towards achieving a common objective. In this case, all the thirteen American states joined forces to alleviate perceived dangers that were likely to be caused by continued British rule (Stroebe, 1988).

c. Aggression

Aggression is one of the significant components of conflict. It is defined as an incompatibility of goals; in the case of the American war of independence, goals and expectations of the British government and the American people became completely incompatible and the Americans wanted The British government from having influence within the American territory (Stroebe, 1988).

Conflict is an important part of society. It is known to have the effect of bringing transformative changes in the society. In the case of the American war of independence the conflict between the American people and the British power led to the thirteen American states becoming independent (Stroebe, 1988).