Do people just naturally want conflict

[FrustratedFool]

Sure, personality traits are different to assent to propositions.

As an adult one can dissent from the proposition that pleasure is irrelevant.

When you are told something over and over again when you are young, especially by people who you should be able to trust, it can stick with you.  

To this day my mother's words ring in my head regarding certain things.

It doesn't matter. You either agree with X or disagree. If you agree, it requires sufficient warrant to be reasonable. If you disagree, the same. If unsure, one simply says, 'I do not know'. Feelings arising from childhood beatings are irrelevant to this. You can have voices in your head from anywhere, but the response to a proposition is either: agree, disagree, unsure.