UNIT 9

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

 The study of human behaviour is very complex and complicated

concept.
 • It is affected by the psychological factors such as perception,
learning, personality and motivation.
 • In addition to these factors, individual behaviour affects and is
affected by the behaviour of others.
 • One of the major problems in the study of organisational
behaviour is to analyse and improve, the interpersonal
relationships.
 • One basic approach to study interpersonal relations in an
organisational system is transactional analysis.
 • This analysis deals with understanding, predicting and
controlling interpersonal relationships.
 It was introduced by Eric Berne.
 • Transactional analysis is a technique used to help people better
understand their own and other’s behaviour, especially in
interpersonal relationships.
 • It is a good method for understanding interpersonal behaviour
 .• It offers a model of personality and the dynamics of self and
its relationship to others that makes possible a clear and
meaningful discussion of behaviour.

Transactional analysis is primarily concerned with following:

o Analysis of self awareness
o Analysis of ego states
o Analysis of transactions
o Script analysis
o Games analysis
o Analysis of life positions
 o Stroking
 1. ANALYSIS OF SELF AWARENESS• The
interpersonal relationships are composed of interself.• Self
is the core of personality pattern which provides
integration.• Self awareness is an important concept, it
describes the self in terms of image, both conscious and
unconscious.• Joseph Luft and Harrington have developed
a diagram to look at one’s personality including
behaviours and attitudes that can be known and unknown
to self and known and unknown to others.• This diagram is
known as the JOHARI WINDOW.• It comprises of 4
parts.

 JOHARI WINDOW OPEN; (known to others and also self)

BLIND (unknown to self but known to others) HIDDEN; (known
to self but unknown to others) UNKNOWN(unknown to self and
unknown to others)

 ANALYSIS OF EGO STATES
 • The ego plays an important role in human behaviour.• People
interact with each other in terms of psychological positions or
behavioural patterns known as ego states.• Ego states are person’s
way of thinking, feeling and behaving at any time.• There are 3
important ego states.• Ego states: child, adult and parent.• A
person of any age have these ego states in varying degree.• A
healthy person is able to move from one ego state to another
 THE EGO STATES: PARENT, ADULT, CHILD Personality
 1. parent ego state: The parent ego state means that the values,
attitudes and behaviours of parents an integral part of the
personality of an individual. These people tend to talk to people
and treat others like children. The characteristics of a person
with parent ego state are:• Judgemental• Rule maker•
Moralising• Over protective• indispensable
 2. Adult ego state: The adult ego state is authentic, direct, reality
based, fact seeking and problem solving. They assume that
 human beings as equal, worthy and responsible. The process of
adult ego state formation goes through one’s own experiences
and continuously updating attitudes left over from childhood.
People with adult ego state, gather relevant information,
carefully analyse it, generate alternatives and make logical
choices.
 3.Child ego state: The child ego state is characterized by very
immature behaviour. The important features of child ego state
are creativity, anxiety, depression, dependence, fear, joy,
emotional sentimental etc.

3.ANALYSIS OF TRANSACTIONS• A transaction is a basic unit of

social interaction.• The heart of transactional analysis is the study and
diagramming of the exchanges between two persons.• Thus where a
verbal or non verbal stimulus from one person is being responded by
another person a transaction occurs.• Transactional analysis can help
us to determine which ego state is most heavily influencing our
behaviour and the behaviour of the other people with whom we
interact.

Depending on the ego states of the persons involved in

transactions, there may be three types of transactions:
 1.Complementary transactions: Both people are operating from
the same ego state. There can be nine complementary
transactions.
 They are given below:
o Adult-Adult transactions
o Adult-Parent transactions
o Adult-Child transactions
o Parent-Parent transactions
o Parent-Adult transactions
o Parent-Child transactions
o Child-Parent transactions
o Child-Adult transactions
 o Child-Child transactions

 2. Crossed transactions: A crossed transaction is one in which

the sender sends message a behaviour on the basis of his ego
state, but this message is reacted to by an unexpected ego state on
the part of the receiver. Crossed communication should be
avoided as far as possible. Whenever such transactions occur,
communication tends to blocked and a satisfactory transaction is
not accomplished.
 3. Ulterior transactions: Two ego states within the same person
but one disguises the other one.
 4. SCRIPT ANALYSIS• In a layman’s view ,a script is the text
of play, motion picture, or a radio or TV programme.• In
transactional analysis a person’s life is compared to a play and
the script is the text of the play.• According to Eric Berne,” a
script is an ongoing programme, developed in early childhood
under parental influence which directs the individual behaviour
in the most important aspects of his life.• A script is a complete
plan of living, offering prescriptions, permissions and structure
which makes one winner or loser in life.
 5. ANALYSIS OF LIFE POSITIONS• In the process of
growing up people make basic assumptions about their own self
worth as well as about the worth of significant people in their
environment.• The combination of assumptions about self and
the other person called as life position.• Transactional analysis
constructs the following classifications of the four possible life
positions or psychological positions:• I am OK,, you are OK.• I
am OK, ,you are not OK.• I am not OK,, you are OK.• I am not
OK,, you are not OK
   I am OK, you are OK: It appears to be an ideal life
position. People with this type of life position have confidence in
themselves as well as trust and confidence in others.
 I am OK, you are not OK: This is a distrustful psychological
positions. This is the attitude of those people, who think that
whatever they do is correct.•
 I am not OK, you are OK: This is a common position for those
people who feel power less when they compare themselves to
others.
 I am not OK,, you are not OK: people in this position tend to feel bad
about themselves and see the whole world as miserable. They do not trust
others and have no confidence in themselves.
 6.STROKING• Stroking is an important aspects of the transactional
analysis.• The term stroke refers to “giving some kind of recognition to
others.”• People need strokes for their sense of survival and well being on
the job. Lack of stroking can have negative consequences both on
physiological and psychological well being of a person.• There are three
types of strokes:
 1.Positive strokes: The stroke one feels good, is a positive stroke.
Recognition, approval are some of the examples.
 2. Negative strokes: A stroke one feels bad or not good is a negative
stroke. Negative strokes hurt physically or psychologically.
 3.Mixed strokes: A stroke may be of a mixed type also. Example :the
boss comment to a worker “you did an excellent job in spite of your
limited experience.
 7. GAMES ANALYSIS• When people fail to get enough strokes at work
they try a variety of things.• One of the most important thing is that they
play psychological games.• A psychological game is a set of transaction
with three characteristics:
o The transaction tend to be repeated.
o They make sense on superficial or social level.
o One or more transactions is ulterior.
 Types of games:
 * A first degree game is one which is socially acceptable in the
agent’s circle.
 * A second degree game is one which more intimate end up with
bad feelings.
 * A third degree game is one which usually involve physical
injury.
 BENEFITS AND UTILITY OF TRANSACATIONAL ANALYSIS
 • Improved interpersonal communication.• Source of positive energy.•
Understanding ego state.• motivation.• Organisational development