Kurt Lewin's framework describing three types of motivational conflict.

• A. Approach-Approach Conflict
• B. Approach-Avoidance Conflict
• C. Drive-Reduction Theory
• D. Lewin's Motivational Conflicts Theory

Answer: (D)

Kurt Lewin’s idea is that motivation can pull you in opposite directions, creating conflicts that fall into three patterns. First, when you face two appealing choices and must pick one, both options have positives, so the stress comes from choosing between them—this is an approach-approach conflict. Second, when one goal has both positive and negative sides, you’re pulled toward the goal by its positives but held back by its negatives, leading to an approach-avoidance conflict. Third, when you’re choosing between two undesirable options, each with downsides, you experience an avoidance-avoidance conflict where the struggle is between two unattractive paths.

Understanding these helps you see how the mind weighs costs and benefits in different situations. The idea isn’t about naming a single theory, but about recognizing that these three distinct conflicts capture the ways motivation can be tugged in opposing directions: two good options, a good-and-bad option, or two bad options.