TRANSACTION ANALYSIS

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy, developed by

Eric Berne during the 1950s. Transactions refer to the communication exchanges between people.
During a conversation with someone, the person starting the communication will give the
‘transaction stimulus’ and then the person receiving this stimulus (or message of communication)
will give the ‘transaction response’.
Transactional analysis is the method used to analyses this process of transactions in
communication with others. It requires us to be aware of how we feel, think and behave during
interactions with others.
TA recognized that the human personality is made up of three "ego states"; each of which is an
entire system of thought, feeling, and behavior from which we interact with each other. The
Parent, Adult and Child ego states and the interaction between them form the foundation of
transactional analysis theory.
When people transact and exchange ideas and information, they are either comfortable or
uncomfortable communicating with each other. Transactional analysis is a technique which helps
to understand the behaviour of other person so that communication becomes effective.
Understanding human behaviour helps to motivate, guide and direct other persons.

Transactional Analysis (TA), thus, facilitates communication. TA studies transactions amongst

people and understands their interpersonal behaviour. It was developed by Eric Berne, a
psychotherapist. He observed there are several ‘people’ inside each person who interact with
other people in different ways.

Ego States:
It represents a person’s way of thinking, feeling and behaving. There are three ego states present
in everyone: child, parent and adult. They are related to behaviour of a person and not his age.
However, they are present in every person in varying degrees. There may be more of one ego
state than another at a specific point of time. When two persons communicate with each other,
communication is affected by their ego states. These are;
A. CHILD EGO:
Child behaviour reflects a person’s response to communicate in the form of joy, sorrow,
frustration or curiosity. These are the natural feelings that people learn as children. It reflects
immediate action and immediate satisfaction. It reflects childhood experience of a person gained
generally up to the age of five years.

A child can be:

(i) Natural child: He is naturally curious, joyous or scornful. He does what comes his
way naturally.
(ii) Adaptive child: He reacts the way his parents want him to react. He is trained to
act.
(iii) Rebellious child: He has the experience of fear, frustration and anger.

B. PARENT EGO:
Parent behaviour is acquired through external environment. As young children, their parents’
behaviour remains embedded in their minds which is reflected as parental ego when they grow
up. It usually reflects protection, displeasure, reference to rules and working on the basis of past
precedents.

This can be:

(i) Nurturing parent ego: As nurturing parents, managers praise good performance of the
workers. They interact with them and help them during times of distress. They reflect
nurturing behaviour towards others.
(ii) Negative or critical parent ego: As critical parents, managers criticize or ignore poor
performance of the workers rather than help them to improve. They have a critical
attitude while interacting with others.

C. ADULT EGO
Adult behaviour reflects the ability to analyse the situation and take logical decisions. He
overcomes the emotional feelings and takes decisions based on facts and figures. This state is
based upon reasoning, thinking, experience, rationality and discussion based on facts.
It updates the parental ego to determine what is right and wrong and child ego to determine what
feelings to express and what not to express. These ego states are present in all human beings at
some time or the other. People respond to different situations in different ways depending on
their ego state.

Based on the ego states, three types of transactions can take place:
(a) Complementary

(b) Crossed.

(c) Ulterior
Complementary Transactions
It is important to note that although the phrase ‘complementary transactions’ sounds positive, it
does not necessarily mean that this type of communication is always healthy communication.
A complementary transaction takes place when the lines between the ego state of the sender and
that of the receiver are parallel (which can be seen in the image to the right).
This means that whatever ego state that the sender is in, their communication reaches or impacts
the desired ego state of the receiver, thus the receiver responds in a way that complements the
sender's ego state instead of challenging it.
When this complementary transaction happens from adult-to-adult state, it is thought to be the
best type of communication, as it is respectful and reduces conflicts.
When a complementary transaction happens from the ego state of child and is received and
responded to from the ego of state of a nurturing parent, it will also help to reduce conflicts and
create a degree of harmony in the interaction, however you can see why this would not necessarily
be the best form of interaction in a work place environment between two adults.
Or for example, in a marriage if one partner was worried about an event the other may take on a
more nurturing parental state to help calm and support them, which is great, however if this is the
primary mode of communication between the two then over time it would cause strain and be
quite draining.

Crossed Transactions
Crossed transactions are when ego states of two people interacting do not match, when the ego
state of the sender does not reach the desired or intended ego state of the respondent, thus they
respond to the sender in a conflicting way (which can be seen by the crossed over arrows in the
image to the right).
In a crossed transaction it requires one or both of the people in the interaction to shift ego states
for communication to be able to carry on.
An example of this would be if a customer came to you complaining of their recent purchase,
using very belittling language, jumping to the conclusion that this mistake had been made
purposely and told you that they were going to report you, speaking to you from their critical
parent state, intending you to then reply from your child ego state, such as been very apologetic,
begging them not to report you, responding with anything that strengthens their authority in the
situation.
However, if you were to respond from your adult or parent state instead then this would cause a
crossed transaction, and someone would then have to shift their ego states to accommodate for
this and so the communication can continue.
TA believes that if you respond from your adult state it is more likely that the sender can then
also come back into their adult state, to accommodate for the discrepancy in uncomplimentary
ego states, resulting in transactions from adult to adult, which are healthier and more respectful.

Ulterior Transactions
Ulterior transactions are when the sender outwardly gives a message to the receiver that sounds
like its coming from his adult state to the receiver's adult state.
However, there is actually an underlying, subtle message given from the sender's child or parent
state, with the intention of been received by the responder's child or parent state, thus two
messages are sent at the same time. This can be done consciously or unconsciously by the sender.
This type of interaction is highlighted in the image showing the dashed line. An example of this
would be if someone's teacher or friend said ‘You can choose to study subjects that lead to
becoming a doctor, however it is very hard and requires lots of intelligence’.
The use of language suggests adult to adult respectful communication with a subtle warning,
however they may have said it with the intent of triggering the receiver's rebellious child ego
state, so they might think ‘I will show you that I am also very intelligent and can become a doctor’
and thus study harder.
The three different transactions in communication are not defined by verbal language and words
alone, it also incorporates tone of voice, body language and facial expressions.

LIFE POSITION:
Behaviour of a person depends upon his experience at different stages of his life. He develops a
philosophy towards work from early childhood which becomes part of his identity and remains
with him for lifetime unless some external factor changes it. These positions are called life time
positions.
They fall into four categories:
(a) I am OK, You are OK.

(b) I am OK, You are not OK.

(c) I am not OK, You are OK.

(d) I am not OK, You are not OK.

1. I am OK, You are OK: This life position represents adult ego of a person. It becomes the
philosophy of a person who has good and positive experiences with others. They feel
confident about themselves and others. Managers with this life position believe in give and
take. They are competent to take decisions and also allow others to participate in the
decision-making processes. They delegate authority and express confidence and
consistency in others. They are not threatened by others and express freely what they want
to express.
2. I am OK, You are not OK: This life position represents parent ego of a person who is
brought up as a rebellious child. They have critical attitude towards others. They believe
whatever they do is right and blame others for their wrong acts. This usually happens when
a person is ignored as a child. Managers with this life position have critical attitude towards
 others. They find faults with others and lack trust, faith and confidence in them. They
believe whatever they do is right and, therefore, do not delegate tasks to others.
3. lam not OK, You are OK: This life position represents a state of distrust in the person
himself. He lacks confidence in whatever he does. He believes he cannot do things that
people around him can do and, therefore, keeps grumbling most of the times about
something or the other. Managers with this life position are usually not good managers.
They do not perform well, have an erratic behaviour, feel guilty for their acts and often use
excuses to act against others.
4. I am not OK, You are not OK: This life position represents a desperate state of persons
who have lost interest in life. They have been brought up as neglected children and,
therefore, have negative attitude towards life. In extreme situations, they may even commit
suicide. Managers with this life position do not believe in themselves and others. They
make mistakes in work, do not make proper decisions and also do not believe in decisions
made by others. One of these life positions dominates every person at a point of time. The
optimum position is ‘I am OK, You are OK where a person believes in himself and others.
It represents an adult- adult transaction and a psychologically matured state of mind. This
position can be achieved through education and managers should try to reach this stage
through training and development programmes in their interest and interest of the
organisation.

LIFE SCRIPT
Along side the psychological life positions is the life script, sometimes called childhood scripts,
found in Transactional Analysis theory we find the concept of the Life Script. Life scripts have a
deep and unconscious effect on how we live our lives as adults. They affect the decisions we
make, how we see ourselves and our abilities, and how we behave, yet we seldom are aware of
them at all let alone realise where they come from.
This life script is developed very early in life as a consequence of the various messages we receive
from parents and other caregivers and the ways in which we respond to them. Our beliefs and our
best coping mechanisms can become a pattern that we subconsciously maintain through life in
response to seemingly unrelated subsequent events.
Script messages are not just verbal they can come in the form of :

• Modelling: The ways we perceive adults and peers behaviour.

• Attributions: Being told ‘you’re just like…’
• Suggestions: Hints and encouragement such as ‘Always do your best’.
• Injunctions and counter-injunctions: Demands to not do or do things.

A script decision is made when a person discounts his own free child needs in order to survive,
to maintain attachment to a caregiver. After numerous discounts the decision becomes something
that is no longer consciously chosen, it becomes part of the script. These script decisions were
the best we could manage and were sometimes very effective, but the coping mechanisms of
childhood can become limiting and ineffective in adult life.
Though their roots are in childhood life scripts are created over time they may also be
significantly affected by individual events. Life scripts can often be encapsulated very simply in
phrases like ‘I am a bad person’ or ‘I must take care of everybody’, sometimes life scripts are
empowering and at other times they can be ineffective or even damaging. People follow their
script as they hope to get a pay off in some way, a familiar feeling, a sense of being loved, or to
avoid rejection.

Critical Evaluation
Advantages

• The first advantage of TA is that it was created by Berne with the intention of being
straightforward, with easily understandable concepts, this makes it possible for the lay
person to understand the theory and become familiar with its mechanisms and how social
interactions in their lives take on the form that they do.
• TA helps people to be able to gain deeper insight into their own behaviors, reactions,
thoughts and emotions which they might not have been aware of before, providing them
with greater self-awareness.
• Another pro of TA is that it helps to improve communication skills and relationships with
others, whilst decreasing conflicts, and these benefits are supported by current research.
• A final pro is that TA can be applicable to many social environments/ interactions, and
many types of relationships. For example, work, colleagues and manager relationships or
interactions, teacher, student interactions in schools, romantic relationships/ marriage,
families, parent and child relationship, difficult clients at work in all industries etc. Making
it a very versatile theory.

Disadvantages

• A disadvantage of TA is that it requires someone to have a good degree of self-awareness

and capacity to look at and notice their own behaviour, emotions and thought patterns,
some clients or people may not have this capacity.
• TA requires the client to have a willingness and be motivated to take ownership of their
problems and behaviours, so TA may not be suitable for everyone.
• TA was originally created by Berne to be simple and easy to understand, thus more
accessible to the average person, however with more recent psychotherapists and
psychologists adding onto this theory, it has made it more complex losing some of its
originally intended simplistic nature.