What is meant by overt and covert conflict?

Answer 1

A conflict can occur when one person has a goal or objective and a second person chooses to frustrate the first person's efforts to achieve that goal or objective.

Conflict will be overt when the two people confront each other in open disagreement. Covert conflict occurs when one person hides their anger or hostility. This may well result in internalised feelings of frustration, resentment and stress on their part.

In the security industry, an example of overt conflict might occur when a patron, refused admission to a licensed venue, becomes argumentative. Covert conflict can be dangerous as it often leads to a surprise outburst or sneak attack such as when someone throws a rock or deeply scratches a car. Without any warning signs, such internal resentment can be very hard to detect until it's too late.