TRANSACTIONAL

ANALYSIS
 Philosophy of TA
• It is based on +ve, humanistic
philosophy
• We are all OK
• Positive strokes are deserved
• We do influence each other
• We are responsible for our own
behavior
EGO STATES
PARE
NT

Each of us


ADUL
has within us
T
3 ego states

CHILD
EGO STATES
PARE
NT
 EGO STATES

• Parent ego state:

– Collection of attitudes, thoughts,
behaviours, and feelings which a
person has taken in from outside
sources who served as parent
figures.
– LIFE AS TAUGHT
 PARENT EGO STATE
• Parents define for their children how to
perceive and deal with the world.
• Historical record of the important things that
parent figures did
• These tapes are recorded experiences and
will never go away
• Parent ego state is replete with opinion,
judgements, values and attitudes
• New tapes are recorded at all times
depending on
– Vulnerability of self
– Power of parent figure
– Believability of parent figure
Nurturing NP CP Critical
Parent Parent
 PARENT EGO STATE
– Nurturing Parent: is caring,
concerned, forgiving,
reassuring, permissive, warmly
protective, worried
– Critical Parent: is opinionated,
powerful, strongly protective,
principled, punitive, demanding
 Spotting the parent
• From non-verbal behavior
– Gestures: Frown, stern look, pointing
finger, arms folded across the chest;
reaching for, hugging, holding
– Tone of voice: critical; comforting,
reassuring
– Postures: puffed up, back straight,
shoulder pulled back; open arms
protecting from a fall or hurt
• From verbal behavior
 Behavior Drivers

• Parents indicated to us how we should

behave in order to be OK with them.
We retain these messages and
replay them.
– Be Perfect
– Try Hard
– Please Me
– Hurry Up
– Be Strong
EGO STATES
PARE
NT

CHILD
 EGO STATES

• Child ego state:

– Consists of feelings, and behaviours
which are typical of children and
spontaneous adults
– LIFE AS FELT
Nurturing NP CP Critical
Parent Parent

Natural Adapted
Child Child
NC AC
Little
Professor LP
 CHILD EGO STATE
• Is derived from needs and feelings.
• It contains memories of our past experiences.
• There are three forms - Natural Child (NC),
Adapted Child (AC), and Little Professor
(LP)
• The NC expresses itself spontaneously
without concern for the reactions of the
“parents”
• The AC, behaves, as if a parent were watching
or listening and is restrained
 CHILD EGO STATE

• LP plays the primary role in our process

of making decisions about how we can
best get along in the world
• LP thinks intuitively, using subjective
rather than logical ways of
understanding.
 Spotting the Child
• From non-verbal behavior
– Gestures: laughter, arms moving freely;
wringing hands, hanging head
– Tone of voice: affectionate, impulsive;
self-centered, rebellious, whining
– Expression: excitement, surprise, wide-
eyed looks; downcast eyes, quivering
lips or chin, pouting
– Posture: jumping up and down, head
cocked; slouching, burdened
EGO STATES
PARE
NT

ADUL
T

CHILD
 EGO STATES

• Adult ego state:

– Processor which functions like a
computer as it organizes
information, estimates
probabilities, and makes logical
statements
– LIFE AS THOUGHT
 ADULT EGO STATE
• Adult state is rational and linear in
its functioning
• It gathers, stores, and uses
information from many sources
• Its recordings are essentially factual
• The adult uses the information to
make assessments to estimate
probabilities
• The adult is often called the
computer
Nurturing NP CP Critical
Parent Parent

ADULT

Natural Adapted
Child Child
NC AC
Little
Professor LP
Now look at your scores
and see what meaning
they have for you?
 Strokes
• When one person recognizes the existence of
another to that person, it is called a ‘stroke’
• Recognition is a basic human need and strokes
are very important
• Strokes can be pleasurable or painful
• Strokes can be unconditional or conditional
• Conditional strokes might be
– Performance oriented
– Strokes for following rules
– Conformity and compromise oriented strokes
 TRANSACTIONS
• A transaction is a unit of social
interaction between two persons
• These transactions can be analyzed
according to the ego states involved
• Transactions could be simple or complex
• Simple transactions are of two kinds-
complementary and crossed
• In simple transactions, the ego state
that is addressed is the one that
responds and the response is to the
 COMPLEMENTARY
TRANSACTIONS

Boss:
P
When is the
P 

1 meeting
A A 
2

Subordinate:
C C 
Tomorrow at
1:30
 COMPLEMENTARY
TRANSACTIONS
Boss:


P P

You don’t
1 deserve a
A A raise
2
Subordinate:

C
C 
I know, I just
can’t do
anything right

CROSSED TRANSACTIONS

Colleague A:
P P

You left without
permission
1
Colleague B:
A A 
2

What is it to
C
C you?

CROSSED TRANSACTIONS

Person A:
P P
1

Laziness breeds
mediocrity you
A A know
2

Person B:
C
C

Who are you to
say?

 COMPLEX TRANSACTIONS
A transaction becomes


P P complex when there is

duplicity in meaning in one or
1 both transactions
A A
Salesperson:


1
This piece is very expensive

C
2 C
I am challenging you to buy it


Customer


I think this is the piece I



want to buy
COMPLEX TRANSACTIONS
Boss


P 1
P How come you are so


early today?
1
A A
1. You are late again


2 Subordinate


C 2
C

Sometimes you also
come early
2. I know of times


when you are late too

 Life Positions
I’m not OK with me, I’m OK with me,
You are OK with me You’re OK with me

I’m not OK with me, I’m OK with me,

You’re not OK with me You’re not OK with me