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Games People Play: the Psychology of Human Relationships: Eric Berne

Article  in  The British Journal of Psychiatry · March 1988

DOI: 10.1192/S0007125000219247

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British Journal of Psychiatry (1988), 152, 440—442
Books Reconsidered
Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships: Eric Berne*
Games People Play is the second offour major books
written by Berne describing his theory of psycho
therapy, which is called transactional analysis. The
other three are Transactional Analysis in Psycho
therapy(1961), Principles ofGroup Treatment(1966),
and What Do You Say After You Say Hello? (1972).
Berne himself was an American psychiatrist, who
although he was trained as a psychoanalyst was
never accepted as one. Since his death in 1970, trans
actional analysis, orTA as it is colloquially called, has
continued to flourish with its own organisation, the
International Transactional Analysis Association,
and quarterly periodical, the Transactional Analysis
Journal. There is usually a chapter devoted to it in
most textbooks of psychotherapy, such as Corsii's
(1973) exemplary Current Psychotherapies. Conse
quently, it is important to bear in mind that this book
ispart of a corpus of ideasand of a movement that
seems to be maintaining its influence. However, as
a theory it appears as yet to have generated very
little empirical research concerned with testing its
underlying assumptions.
Transactional analysis consists of four kinds of
analyses: structural, transactional, game, and script
analysis. This book describes the first three of these,
but devotes most of its time to game analysis. In fact,
it was written in response to requests for lists of and
further information about transactional games that
people play. It still provides the fullest and most
detailed account of games that has yet appeared
in expositions of transactional analysis, although
Berne recognised that many of his descriptions were
incomplete. Consequently, there is no better source
to turn to for a comprehensive treatment of games.
Although some other ways of looking at games
have been subsequently proposed, later accounts of
transactional analysis do not seem to emphasise the
importance of games as a means for understanding
human behaviour.
In order to comprehend what Berne means by a
game, it is helpful to outline a few of the main ideas
of transactional analysis that are pertinent to it.
New York: Grove Press (1964); Harmondsworth: Penguin (1968). 173 pp.
According to Berne, two of the more basic psycho
logical needs people have are firstly to receive
recognition from other people and secondly to struc
ture their time. An act of recognition is colloquially
known as a stroke, and these strokes may lead to
either positive or negative feelings. While Berne does
not always appear to be consistent in the way that he
categorises phenomena, there seem to be six main
short-term ways in which people can structure their
time when with others. These, in order of their
increasing complexity and their increasing potential
to provide strokes, are: (1) withdrawal (e.g. day
dreaming); (2) rituals (e.g. greetings); (3) activities
(e.g. problem-solving); (4) pastimes (e.g. discussing
holidays); (5) games; and (6) intimacy. Intimacy is
the highest and most satisfying form of social inter
action and perhaps may be best described as the
open and honest expression of spontaneous feelings.
Unfortunately, it would appear that many people
are brought up to believe that playing games is
being intimate, and thereby deprive themselves of
experiencing more fulifiling personal relationships.
Although it is possible to describe games without a
knowledge of structural and transactional analysis,
the formal analysis of a game as it is usually pre
sented in this book employs such analyses. However,
it would seem that the validity of this concept does
not depend on these analyses also being valid. In
other words, the idea of a game may be of value
outside this particular theoretical context. Structural
analysis involves determining which one of three
phenomenological or ego states a person is in. These
three states are colloquially and most simply referred
to as the Parent, the Adult, and the Child. The Parent
represents the behaviours (in the broadest sense) of
other important people that the person has adopted,
the Child consists of those behaviours that the person
showed up until what may be seen to be the arbitrary
age of six, and the Adult, theoretically somewhat
simplistically and implausibly, is supposed to cover
the objective analysis of data. Functionally, the
Child may be thought of as consisting of two parts:
 BOOKS RECONSIDERED
the Natural Child, and the Adapted Child. The
Adapted Child is the way that the six-and-under year
old reacts to important others, while the Natural
Child constitutes the child's true nature, which may
be seen as being analogous to the Rogerian notion
of the actualising tendency. Intimacy, then, is a
function ofthe Natural Child.
A transaction is an exchange of strokes between
two people. Three kinds of transactions have been
distinguished and each of these has a rule of com
munication associated with it which predicts what is
likely to happen. The simplest transaction is called a
complementary one and only involves two ego states
(such as Parent and Child). The rule associated with
this type of transaction is that communication will
proceed smoothly on the issue being discussed.
Communication will break down if the second type
of transaction, a cross transaction, occurs. This
involves a transaction between three or four ego
states, where the ego state that the stroke comes
from is not addressed. Complementary and crossed
transactions take place most frequently in rituals,
pastimes and activities. The third kind of trans
action, an ulterior transaction, occurs at two levels
and forms the basis of games. At the social level there
is an overt message (e.g. “¿Will
you help me with my
work?―)which is somewhat different from that at the
psychologicalcovertone(e.g. “¿Iwant tobealone with
you―).The rule of communication accompanying
ulterior transactions states that the outcome of such
an exchange will be determined by the psychological
rather than the social level. The analysis of single
transactions is called transaction analysis proper,
to distinguish it from the theory of transactional
analysis.
A game, then, consists of a set of ulterior trans
actions. This distinguishes it from rituals, pastimes,
and activities. However, this statement does not
constitute a sufficient definition of a game. It is also
necessary that none of the players are fully aware of
what they are doing. If one of the players is conscious
of what is happening, then it becomes a manoeuvre
or ploy. Games are played to obtain certain feelings
and to confirm particular attitudes about oneself or
others. These feelings and attitudes can be either
positive or negative, but since people seek psycho
therapeutic help primarily for personal difficulties,
most of the games that Berne has identified have
negative outcomes. They can be recognised by their
repetitive nature and the consistent feelings that they
evoke, and can take place over varying lengths of
time. In general, people who are psychologically dis
turbed play games more intensely, although it is not
clear whether this manifests itself in how frequently
they are played or in how intense the feeling or payoff
441
is. Despite this, however, Berne strongly implies that
most people play games and that game-playing may
be more common than intimacy in close relation
ships. Pastimes, in fact, are used to find people who
will make the most compatible players, since a game
involves two or more people enacting complementary
roles.
The two games that were first discovered and are
most fully described are colloquially called “¿Why
don't you —¿
yes but―and “¿If
it weren't for you―.
“¿Whydon't you —¿
yes but―is most commonly
played at parties and in all kinds of groups, includ
ing psychotherapy groups. It can be played by a
number of different people. The protagonist or
agent, sometimes called “¿White―,
starts by present
ing a problem. The respondents suggest possible
solutions to the problem, perhaps beginning with a
“¿Whydon't you . . .?“.
To each of these the agent
objects with a “¿Yes,but . . .“.
At the overt social
level the agent seems to be requesting help on an
Adult-to-Adult basis. However, at the ulterior
psychological level, the agent's Child is challenging
the respondent's Parent to provide an answer to an
insoluble problem. The payoff for the agent in this
game is being reassured that other people cannot
be of help. “¿If
it weren't for you―is the most com
mon game played between spouses. The agent com
plains that the other person prevents them from
doing what they want to do. At the overt, social
level the respondent's Parent tells the agent's Child
what they must do, while the agent's Child com
plains of being restricted. At the ulterior, psycho
logical level, however, this is a Child-to-Child inter
action in which the agent wants to be protected
from some frightening situation.
For these, and some of the other games described,
Berne tries to provide a formal or theoretical analysis,
which includes the following features: (1) a general
description of the game (the thesis); (2) the way in
which it can be thwarted (the antithesis); (3) its aim;
(4) the roles that it requires; (5)its underlying psycho
dynamic motivation; (6) an example of a childhood
and adult form; (7) a transactional analysis of a typi
cal situation; (8) the minimum moves involved; (9) its
biological, existential, and internal and external
psychological and social advantages; and occasion
ally (10) examples of other related games. The anti
thesis, for example, of “¿Why
don't you —¿
yes but―is
to concur with the difficulty of the problem, while
that of “¿If
it weren't for you―is to allow the other
person to do what they want to do. After describing
in some detail what a game is, Berne outlines a
number of games that have been discovered in terms
of the situations that they are most likely to be found.
These are: Life games (e.g. “¿Alcoholic―),
Marital
 442 BOOKS RECONSIDERED

games (e.g. “¿Ifit weren't for you―), Party games It consists of asking the following questions: (1) what
(e.g. “¿Why don't you —¿yes but―), Sexual games keeps happening over and over again?; (2) how does
(e.g. “¿Rapo―),
Underworld games (e.g. “¿Cops and it start?; (3) what happens next?; (4) what happens
robbers―), Consulting Room games (e.g. “¿I'm after that?; (5) how does it end?; and (6) how do you
only trying to help you―), and Good games (e.g. feel after it ends? This method could be profitably
“¿Cavalier―). used to determine the extent and kind of games that
After more than 20 years, Games People Play are most commonly played. For those, however,
remains a highly provocative and original book. who are more interested in transactional analysis as
Although game analysis does not seem to play a large an approach to therapy, Berne's best book on this
role in the therapeutic practice of transactional subject is Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy.
analysis, this has been Berne's most popular book. A more recent and up-to-date text which provides
The Penguin edition of it has sold more than 470 000 an account of later developments in transactional
copies, compared with over 157 750 copies of the analysis is Woollams & Brown's (1979) TA: The
Corgi edition of What Do You Say After You Say Total Handbook of Transactional Analysis.
Hello? Although it is frequently cited, it has stimu
lated little research. One of the more enticing aspects
of the concept of a game is that it draws attention to References
what may be recurring patterns of social interaction. BERNE,E. (1961) Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. New
A weakness of Berne's own analysis is that he does not York: Grove Press.
generally provide a satisfactory account of what the —¿(1966)PrinciplesofGroupTreatment.NewYork:GrovePress
and Oxford University Press.
payoff is for the respondent in a game. Since games —¿ (1972) What Do You Say After You Say Hello? New York:
involve at least two players, it should be possible to Grove Press.
describe the transaction in terms of the two comple CoR.SINI,
R. J. (ed.)(1973)CurrentPsychotherapies(2nd
edn, 1979).
mentary games that are enacted. While the number Itasca, Ill: F. E. Peacock.
JAMES, J. (1973) The game plan. Transactional Analysis Journal, 3,
of games that are covered may appear daunting, a 194—197.
simpler method for discovering games has been pro WOOLLAMS, S. & BROWN, M. (1979) TA: The Total Handbook of
posed by James (1973), which he calls the game plan. Transactional Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Duncan Cramer, Lecturer in Social Psychology, Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University of
Technology

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