TRANSACTIONAL

ANALYSIS

Prof. Parul Rishi

Faculty of Human Resource Management,
IIFM, Bhopal
parul@iifm.ac.in
03/30/2023 Cell: 9009992144 1
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS definition

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS (TA)

 is a method of understanding communication

between people;
 T.A. is a system of analysing and understanding
human relationships;
 Transactional analysis was first developed by
an American psychiatrist, Eric Berne, drawing
on the theories of psychoanalyst Sigmund
Freud.
 Transactional Basis

 Id – Pleasure Principle
 Ego- Realistic Principle
 Super-Ego- Ethical Principle
 FREUD and BERNE

Freud’s mental states: ID, EGO, SUPEREGO

Berne’s ego states: CHILD, ADULT, PARENT

natural child nurturing p.
adapted child punishing p.
We can tell which ego state a person is in because
of the verbal and non-verbal behaviour
appropriate to each state.
 STRUCTURAL
ANALYSIS

SCRIPT TRANSACTIONA
ANALYSIS L ANALYSIS-

STROKE
GAME ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
 Structural Analysis - How to analyse
personalities

 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS- How people

communicate

 Stroke Analysis - How people

recognise each other

 Game Analysis - Ulterior Transactions

 SCRIPT ANALYSIS - Life Positions

 Ego States
 Berne believed that when we interact with other people, our state of
mind affects what happens
 He believed that there were three states of mind in all humans, no
matter how old they were, called ego states.

ADULT
PARENT

CHILD
 The basic Structure of Human Personality

Parent Taught Concept of Life

Adult Thought Concept of Life

Child Felt Concept of life

 Eric Berne and Transactional Analysis

People have three ego states: parent, adult, child

 Parent: when a person thinks, feels & behaves
in ways copied from his/her parents
 Child: thinking, feeling, behaving as one did as
a child
 Adult: thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are
a direct result of current happenings
Key point: people shift in & out of these states

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 The Three Ego States

 Parent- “Do as I do”

 Child- “What shall I do?”
 Adult- “I will be frank with you”
 The two levels of the Parent ego state

Nurturing Controlling
Parent Parent
 The Three levels of the Child ego state

A
D
A
Natural P Rebellious
Child T Child

I
V
E
 STROKES
We communicate with other people by giving
strokes.
A stroke is the basic unit of communication.
A stroke can be: a.) positive
b.) negative
Strokes are fundamental units of social action.
 TRANSACTIONS
An exchange of strokes between two people is the
basic transaction of human communication.
Transaction is the fundamental unit of social
intercourse.
Transactions can be:
a./ complementary
b./ crossed
c./ ulterior - games
 Characteristics of Ego States

 Each ego state has particular verbal and non-

verbal characteristics, which can be
observed, if you are watching people.
 Each ego state has a positive and negative
aspect
 Look at the sentences below and match the ego state to the sentence.

1. It’s not my fault my drink

got spilt on your new
carpet
2. I wonder what might have CHILD
caused that accident
3. For goodness sake, clean ADULT
up that mess.
4. Shall we clean up the
mess together with a wet
cloth?
5. I refuse to get involved in
this incident.
PARENT
 Ego states

 While the above ego states are present in all

of us simultaneously, only one of these will
be in command at any given moment in time.
Furthermore, the states do not depend on
the individual's age and each presents
positive and negative aspects.
 Shift in Ego States

 Parent- “Why don’t you prepare a time-plan

to handle your things properly?”
 Child- “What is the point when one cannot
follow it?” – Becomes an Adult.
 Transactional Analysis

 Three Basic Concepts: Parent, Adult and Child

 Transactions: Among P, A and C
 P < -- > P
 A < -- > A
 C < -- > C
 Transactional Analysis

Structural analysis –
 Natural child – spontaneous, impulsive,
feeling oriented, self-centered & pleasure
loving
 Adaptive child – compliant, conforms to the
wishes & demands of parental figures
 The Natural Child behaves as a child would do naturally, bringing
together creativity, intuition and curiosity. The Natural
Child enjoys life, expressed itself freely its feelings of happiness,
sadness, anger and fear depending on the situation, and
is spontaneous. The Natural Child is the state which loves.

The Adapted Child adapts its behaviour under the influence of its

parents, behaving in the way that its parents would like it to, for
example, with obedience or precociousness or perhaps also by
showing reserve, by being vindictive or rebellious.

 Rebellious Child
 NC
 People find me to be warm hearted and exuberant.
  Sometimes people find that I am inconsiderate.
  I enjoy speed, and whenever I get the chance I drive rather
quickly.
 I have a tendency of getting angry and of becoming
impatient more often than I like.
   I enjoy eating and drinking and all too often I indulge
beyond a reasonable limit.
  I am impatient with people who do not understand right
away.
  I've got lots of friends and we regularly get together to have
a good laugh.
  I know the right thing to say to make people feel at ease
and to create an atmosphere of good humour.
 Adult ego state
1.  I have a habit of planning my work and my private life. This enables me to be
relaxed and calm.
2.  When my ideas are challenged during discussions, I readily question some of
my points of view.
3.  When I reflect on my life, I see that I have frequently changed my ideas and my
points of view on fundamental issues.
4.  Although I do not always agree with my boss on quite a number of issues, I
nonetheless get on very well with him.
5.   At work, moral values and feelings are more important than many people
believe.
6.   I take part in a number of activities outside of work and have the feeling that I
am not as bored as most people.
7. I enjoy a happy life. I have built up and continue to build up a positive
relationship with my spouse and my children.
 Transactional Analysis

 Nurturing parent - comforts, praises and

helps others
 Critical parent – finds faults, displays
prejudices, disapproves and prevents others
from feeling good about themselves
 A major goal is to figure out which ego state
a person is using
 CP
1. I like work that is done well, that is precise and is finished
within the allocated time limit.
2.  Sincerity is fundamental to human relations. I am not
afraid of telling others what I think.
3.  When faced with difficulties I do my duty.
4.  It is sad that certain forms of politeness and propriety are
dying out.
5.  Before making a decision, every possible choice should be
looked into.
6.  The greatest joys in life are to be had through self effort
and by going beyond one's limits.
7.  Life takes on meaning when one fights for a righteous
cause.
 Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis - Transactions between
people are seen as having 3 levels:
 Complementary – both people are operating
from the same ego state
 Crossed – the other person reacts from an
unexpected ego state
 Ulterior – two ego states within the same
person but one disguises the other
 Types of Transaction
Complementary Transactions
This is a
complementary
P P transaction because
the employee
accepts the child ego
A A state assigned to him
by the director and
responds in child ego
C C state.

DIRECTOR EMPLOYEE
“You’re three hours late, I “I’m really sorry, I slept
want an explanation.” through the alarm, it won’t
happen again, I promise.”
 Crossed Transaction

This is a crossed transaction

because although the
P P manager, parent ego state,
attempted to address the
employee as a child, the
A A employee refuses this ego
state and responds in adult
ego state to the manager’s
C C ego state.
A crossed transaction is any
transaction where the
DIRECTOR EMPLOYEE person being spoken to
refuses the ego state they
“You’re three hours “Oh, didn’t you get
are assigned by the first
late, I want an held up by that
speaker.
explanation.” accident on the
road as well?”
 Types of Transactions (Con..)

 Crossed Transaction: This causes most

difficulties in social situations.
 “May be, you should improve your way of
delivering lecture”.
 “You always find fault with me whatever I
do” Parent-Child interaction.
 Transactional Analysis
Game analysis - ulteriorly motivated transactions
that appear complimentary on the surface
but end in bad feelings:
 1st Degree games – minor upset, played
socially end up with minor discomfort
 2nd Degree games – more intimate end up
with bad feelings
 3rd Degree games - usually involve physical
injury
 Transactional Analysis
 Very few games have a positive or neutral
outcome
In these games, people play one of three
positions:
 Victim
 Persecutor
 Rescuer
 Typical Games

 Between director and faculty:

 “This training is challenging, you cannot take
it , I believe”
 Between A Teacher and a Student:
 “This is a good topic, but you cannot handle
it.”
 Transactional Analysis

 After – a difficulty is expected after a certain

event
 Open-ended – one does not know what to do
after a given time
 Mini-scripts: Hurry up! Try harder! Be
perfect! Be strong! Please someone! These
drivers allow for temporary escape from life
scripts
Know your TA style???
 A HURRY UP Style !
 Type A Personality
 People with hurry up styles like to do everything as quickly as they can.
 They are energized by having deadlines to meet, and they always seem
able to fit in extra tasks.
 They tend to be quick to come up with solutions to problems.
 In a mentoring relationship…
 They want an instant relationship, without taking time to get to know
their mentoring partner.
 They can’t see why there is a need to have so many stages in the
mentoring process – why can’t they go straight to the action stage?
 A HURRY UP personality will work well under time pressure because
their energy will be high 
For improvement a ‘Hurry Up’ needs to:
 - think and plan ahead with regard to the REALITY of available time
 - have short term goals with defined standards
 BE PERFECT
 Type A Personality
 Be Perfect people are energised by doing things right.
 They aim for perfection in everything, check carefully, produce accurate
work and set high standards.
 Sometimes they will miss deadlines because they may have a weak sense
of priorities and insist everything is done perfectly, so they can come across
as overly critical.
 In a mentoring relationship…
 They make little allowance for human failings. They may get discouraged if
they fail to live up to their own high expectations and lose faith in a
mentoring partner who makes a mistake.
  A BE PERFECT personality works well in jobs where detail is important and
the set standards are important.
For improvement needs to:
 - realise that less than their best may be what is needed at the early stages
 - realise that their qualities of accuracy and organisation may have a poor
impact on those with different mindset.
 PLEASE PEOPLE-A Non Assertive
Class of People
 Like to get on with everyone and energised by approval and harmony.
 They make good team members because they involve others as a way of
making sure they are happy.
 Use their intuition to pick up when someone has doubts; they notice the
little signs and the body language that others may ignore. On the other hand,
they may be reluctant to challenge anyone in case they lose that person’s
approval.
In a mentoring relationship…
 They may worry too much about gaining the approval of their mentoring
partner.
 They may attempt to read their partner’s mind, and then say what they think
the partner wants to hear.
 When they talk, they may make everything sound like a question, so they
can quickly back down if their suggestions don’t meet with instant
agreement.
 Can hold a team together and perform the 'maintenance' functions of
involving people, checking and summarising, and will be sympathetic,
 TRY HARD
 Try Hard people are enthusiastic, get involved in lots of different activities, and
tend to volunteer for things.
 They are energised by having something new to try.
 Sometimes they turn small jobs into major projects because they are so
enthusiastic at following up every angle.
 They may then become bored with the detailed work that follows, even to the
point of leaving work undone so they can move on to a new, exciting activity.
In a mentoring relationship…
 Try Hards are likely to be very enthusiastic mentoring partners to begin with.
 They will be keen to try out the various aspects of the mentoring process.
 They may even introduce ideas and activities to the mentoring. However, their
enthusiasm may not translate into action.
  A TRY HARD personality is very good in start up situations, and where effort
and energy to complete are needed.
For improvement needs to:
 - finish some things and put some full stops into their sentences
 - follow through when necessary
 BE STRONG
 People with Be Strong working styles pride themselves on their ability to
stay calm in any circumstances.
 They are energised by the need to cope. They are good at dealing with
crises, can handle difficult people, and will work steadily through any
workload.
 However, their desire to have everything under control means they can
come across as aloof.
 They are also reluctant to ask for help, even when they should, and their
lack of awareness of emotions may make them insensitive to the feelings
of others.
In a mentoring relationship…
 May find it hard to accept any help from others. Even talking about
problems may be difficult, as Be Strongs are reluctant to admit to
weakness, even to themselves.
 They are good in accommodating poor conditions or putting up with
things that many would find unreasonable
For improvement needs to:- learn to relax- admit to being weak in some
situations
 Transactional Analysis

 Four basic life scripts:

 I’m OK, you’re OK – ideal
 I’m OK, you’re not OK – get away from me
 I’m not OK, you’re OK – I’ll never get
anywhere
 I’m not OK, you’re not OK – get rid of each
other
 Life Positions
Attitude toward Oneself

Positive I’m OK — I’m OK —

You’re not OK You’re OK

Negative I’m not OK — I’m not OK —

You’re not OK You’re OK

Negative Positive

Attitude toward Others

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 Management Conflict Styles

Passive Assertive
I’m
behavior behavior
not OK — I’m OK —
You’re OK You’re OK

High concern Accommodating Collaborating

for others’ style style
needs

Compromising
style

Aggressive
Avoiding Forcing behavior
style style

Low concern High concern

for others’ I’m for own
needs needs
not OK — I’m OK — 45
You’re not OK You’re not OK
 UTILITY

 Communication
 Motivation
 Leadership

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 DEVELOPING IP Skills

 Developing Assertiveness
 Accepting Responsibility
 Managing Conflicts
Avoiding
Accommodating
Competing/Forcing
Collaborating
Compromising
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 Factors Hampering Interpersonal
Interactions
 Poor Listening
 Emotional Arousal
 Lack of Time
 Differences in objective

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 Building Positive Relationship

 Use of ‘I’
 Focus on problem solving
 Don’t Deceive
 Empathy
 Listen
 Use of Praise
 Be specific
 Praise progress
 Sincere
 Don’t overdo
 Timing

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 Dealing with Criticism

 Understand the Reason behind

 Empathy
 Don’t personalize criticism
 Do not be Judgmental
 Do not overload

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR
KIND ATTENTION

drparulrishi@gmail.com