Psychological Well-Being and Intra-personal Conflicts in Adolescence

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a period characterized as transitional and as such, it is full of complications and conflicts. Research of Intra-Personal Conflicts in connection with Psycho-Emotional Well-being (PEW) comprising three kinds of indicators: personality, cognitive-evaluative and emotional represents new scientific approach. This approach provides the opportunity to define the role of PEW in Intra-Personal Conflicts: Motivation Value Conflict (MVC) and Self-Estimate Conflict (SEC). OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to study the severity of MVC and SEC, the interrelationship of these types of conflicts, and their connection with various PEW components. DESIGN: 237 high school students (ages 15–18; 99 boys, 138 girls) were surveyed. Tests of MVC, the Self-Estimate Scale (SE), and the Level of Aspiration Scale (LA) were applied to measure the conflicts. The Scale of Psychological Well-Being, the Scale of Life Satisfaction, and the Dominant Emotional States Test were employed to measure PEW. RESULTS: The study revealed a high prevalence of Intra-Personal Conflicts in the sample. The adolescents all had high levels of Intra-Personal Conflicts; changes were found in all three blocks of PEW. In the group with a high level of MVC, the levels of Environmental Mastery and Self-Acceptance were significantly lower. Having high level of SEC went along with decreases in most indicators of the personal and cognitive-evaluative components of PEW: decreasing of Cheerfulness, Active Attitude to Life Situation and Life Satisfaction; there were changes in emotional blockage, including decreases in Stability and Emotional Tone, and increases in Despondency, Tension, and Anxiety. CONCLUSION: The study found the prevalence of Intra-Personal Conflicts in the adolescents. We showed that the personality and cognitive-evaluative components of PEW played the role of conflict moderators, while the emotional components were manifested as intra-personal conflict.