When people encounter conflict they are often forced to confront their fearsi need some examples

The most obvious example of this in The
Crucibleis Reverend Parris.  He is many things--haughty, demanding, bitter,
indignant, cowardly, dishonest..and the list goes on.  All of these attitudes cause
conflicts with people of the town in this play on a rather consistent basis, it seems. 
At the heart of it all, I think, is Parris's fear that he will be released from his
position  and they won't think he's good enough.

I'm struck
by this in several ways. 

First, he keeps the girls' secret
of dancing in the woods as long as he can, and he keeps the fact that at least on was
naked is never revealed.  This is the beginning of the conflict regarding witchcraft in
Salem, and it's solely because he fears for himself.

He
wants more money and gold candlesticks and who knows what else as an outward sign of his
worth.  In Act one, he and Proctor are having what appears to be a common argument for
the two of them--Parris isn't getting paid enough.  Proctor simply restates what has
obviously been stated before, and Parris interrupts
with

"I am not
some preaching farmer with a book under my arm; I am a graduate of Harvard
College."

This is Parris
really saying, "I've studied and I know things and you aren't any smarter than I--even
though you always win this argument." 

Parris, even more
than the girls because he knows better, continues to have and cause conflict out of his
own fears.