conflict

Meaning: Conflict theory is a macro-level perspective, tied to Karl Marx, that treats society as groups with unequal power competing for limited resources such as wealth and status. Institutions like law, schools, and the economy tend to protect dominant groups, and the resulting tension drives social change. Functionalism stresses the opposite: institutions as parts that promote stability. In psychology, motivational conflict means competing goals: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, or approach-avoidance.

On the MCAT: A passage describes unequal access to education or health care and asks which perspective explains it. Pick conflict theory when the explanation centers on power, exploitation, or competition over resources. Pick functionalism when it centers on stability and the role an institution plays, and symbolic interactionism when it centers on everyday meanings and symbols.

Common confusion: Conflict does not have to mean violence or open fighting. In this theory it means power differences and competition, which can be quiet and built into institutions. It is also a macro-level approach, so do not match it with symbolic interactionism, which works at the micro level.