ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

ASSIGNMENT – 2

TOPIC – TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

BY
NIKHIL KUMAR
PRACHI YASH
PRIYADARSHI ADARSH
SHAILJA SUNDARAM

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CONTENT

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We have taken efforts in this project. However, it

would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals and
organisation. We would like to extend our sincere
thanks to all of them.

We are highly indebted to Ritu Malhotra Ma’am our

OB faculty for her guidance and constant supervision
as well as for providing necessary information
regarding the project & also for her support in
completing the project.

We would like to express our gratitude towards our

parents for their kind co-operation and
encouragement which helped us in completion of this
project.

We would like to express our special gratitude and

thanks to all the above mentioned persons for giving
us such attention and time.
PRACHI YASH

PRIYADARSHI ADARSH

NIKHIL KUMAR

SHAILJA SUNDARAM

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 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
(INTRODUCTION)

Transactional Analysis is a theory developed by Dr. Eric Berne in the

1950s. Originally trained in psychoanalysis, Berne wanted a theory
which could be understood and available to everyone and began to
develop what came to be called Transactional Analysis (TA).
Transactional Analysis is a social psychology and a method to
improve communication. The theory outlines how we have developed
and treats ourselves, how we relate and communicate with others,
and offers suggestions and interventions which will enable us to
change and grow. Transactional Analysis is underpinned by the
philosophy that:

• people can change

• we all have a right to be in the world and be accepted

Today Transactional Analysis is used in psychotherapy,

organisations, educational and religious settings. Books have been
written for all ages, from children through to adults, by people all
over the world. Transactional Analysis is truly an international
theory relating to a diverse range of cultures.

Over the past 40 years, Berne's theory has evolved to

include applications in counseling, education, organizational
development, and psychotherapy. Research studies have
evaluated the effectiveness of transactional analysis in a wide variety
of contexts.

 The counseling specialization is chosen by professionals

working in such diverse contexts as social welfare, health care,
pastoral work, prevention, mediation, process facilitation,
multicultural work, and humanitarian activities, to name a few.
 Educational transactional analysis is used by practitioners
working in training centers, preschools, elementary and high
schools, universities, and institutions that prepare teachers and
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 trainers as well as in support of learners of all ages to thrive
within their families, organizations, and communities.
 Organizational transactional analysts work in, or for,
organizations using transactional analysis concepts and
techniques to evaluate an organization’s developmental
processes and challenges as well as its dysfunctional behaviors.
 Psychotherapists utilize transactional analysis to facilitate
their clients’ capacities for self-actualization and healing by
learning to recognize and change old, self-limiting patterns.

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 CONTRACTING

Transactional Analysis is a contractual approach. A contract is "an

explicit bilateral commitment to a well-defined course of action"
which means that all parties need to agree:

• why they want to do something

• with whom

• what they are going to do

• by when

• any fees, payment or exchanges there will be

Sometimes contracts will be multi-handed with all parties to the

contract having their own expectations. If these expectations are all
congruent then fine, if not then
discussing everyone's
expectations will lead to greater
understanding and therefore to a
clear contract.

Contracts need to be outlined in

positive words i.e. what is
wanted, rather than what is not
wanted. Our minds tend to focus
on the negative and so this
encourages failure. We have
contracts about employment,
how much will we be paid and
when, what holidays we are due,
what deductions there will be
etc. In order to ensure
placements are effective then
different, but similar, details are
required. Naturally, these

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details will vary dependent on the setting in which we work.

All parties need to state what are they are prepared to do. Are they
able and willing to undertake what is being asked, is this
appropriate? Does it fit within any statements of purpose and
function? Is it legal? Do they have the competence to deliver this? Do
they want to? What does each party want of the others?

Contracts need to be: measurable, manageable and motivational.

Measurable means that the goals need to be tangible. That each
party involved in the contract will be able to say in advance how they
will know when the goal has been achieved. The goal will be specific
and behavioural and clearly defined. The contract will also need to be
manageable and feasible for all those concerned. 'Contracting' in
Transactional Analysis, and indeed many other aspects of TA,
provide a helpful way to understand the Psychological Contract in
employment and similar organizational relationships

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 EGO STATES

Berne devised the concept of ego states to help explain how we are
made up, and how we relate to others. These are drawn as three
stacked circles and they are one of the building blocks of
Transactional Analysis. They categorise the ways we think, feel and
behave and are called Parent, Adult, and Child. Each ego state is
given a capital letter to denote the difference between actual parents,
adults and children.

Parent Ego State

This is a set of feelings, thinking and behaviour that we have copied
from our parents and significant others. As we grow up we take in
ideas, beliefs, feelings and behaviours from our parents and
caretakers. If we live in an extended family then there are more
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people to learn and take in from. When we do this, it is called
introjecting and it is just as if we take in the whole of the care giver.
For example, we may notice that we are saying things just as our
father, mother, grandmother may have done, even though,
consciously, we don't want to. We do this as we have lived with this
person so long that we automatically reproduce certain things that
were said to us, or treat others as we might have been treated.

Adult Ego State

The Adult ego state is about direct responses to the here and now.
We deal with things that are going on today in ways that are not
unhealthily influenced by our past. The Adult ego state is about
being spontaneous and aware with the capacity for intimacy. When
in our Adult we are able to see people as they are, rather than what
we project onto them. We ask for information rather than stay scared
and rather than make assumptions. Taking the best from the past

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and using it appropriately in the present is an integration of the
positive aspects of both our Parent and Child ego states. So this can
be called the Integrating Adult, integrating means that we are
constantly updating ourselves through our every day experiences and
using this to inform us.

In this structural model, the Integrating Adult ego state circle is

placed in the middle to show how it needs to orchestrate between the
Parent and the Child ego states. For example, the internal Parent
ego state may beat up on the internal Child, saying "You are no good,
look at what you did wrong again, you are useless". The Child may
then respond with "I am no good, look how useless I am, I never get
anything right". Many people hardly hear this kind of internal
dialogue as it goes on so much they might just believe life is this way.
An effective Integrating Adult ego state can intervene between the
Parent and Child ego states. This might be done by stating that this
kind of parenting is not helpful and asking if it is prepared to learn
another way. Alternatively, the Integrating Adult ego state can just
stop any negative dialogue and decide to develop another positive
Parent ego state perhaps taken in from other people they have met
over the years.

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Child Ego State
The Child ego state is a set of behaviours, thoughts and feelings
which are replayed from our own childhood.

Perhaps the boss calls us into his or her office, we may immediately
get a churning in our stomach and wonder what we have done wrong.
If this were explored we might remember the time the head teacher
called us in to tell us off. Of course, not everything in the Child ego
state is negative. We might go into someone's house and smell a
lovely smell and remember our grandmother's house when we were
little, and all the same warm feelings we had at six year's of age may
come flooding back.

Both the Parent and Child ego states are constantly being updated.
For example, we may meet someone who gives us the permission we
needed as a child, and did not get, to be fun and joyous. We may well
use that person in our imagination when we are stressed to
counteract our old ways of thinking that we must work longer and
longer hours to keep up with everything. We might ask ourselves "I
wonder what X would say now". Then on hearing the new
permissions to relax and take some time out, do just that and then
return to the work renewed and ready for the challenge.
Subsequently, rather than beating up on ourselves for what we did or
did not do, what tends to happen is we automatically start to give
ourselves new permissions and take care of ourselves.

Alternatively, we might have had a traumatic experience yesterday

which goes into the Child ego state as an archaic memory that
hampers our growth. Positive experiences will also go into the Child
ego state as archaic memories. The positive experiences can then be
drawn on to remind us that positive things do happen.

The process of analysing personality in terms of ego states is called

structural analysis. It is important to remember that ego states do
not have an existence of their own; they are concepts to enable
understanding. Therefore it is important to say "I want some fun"
rather than "My Child wants some fun". We may be in our Child ego

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state when we say this, but saying "I" reminds us to take
responsibility for our actions.

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 CONTAMINATION OF ADULT EGO STATE
The word contamination for many conjures up the idea of disease.
For instance, we tend to use the word for when bacteria has gone into
milk. Well, this is similar to the case with the contaminated
Integrating Adult ego state. This occurs when we talk as if something
is a fact or a reality when really this is a belief. Racism is an example
of this. The Integrating Adult ego state is contaminated in this case
by the Parent ego state. If we are white we might have lived with
parents or significant others who said such things as "Black people
take our jobs". Growing up it is likely, that having no real experience
to go by, we believed this. We might also have been told that Black
people are aggressive. In our Child ego state may well lodge some
scared feelings about Black people and in this ego state we may start
to believe "All Black people are scary". This would mean that there
would be a double contamination of the Integrating Adult ego state.
However, we would think that such statements were facts rather
than beliefs and when this happens we say that this is Integrating
Adult ego syntonic. That is, they fit with the Integrating Adult ego
state and only those people outside of our situation and sometimes
outside of our peer group or culture can see that, objectively, such
beliefs are just that and therefore they can be changed.

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 TRANSACTION TYPES

When we interact with each other, there are three types of

transactions:

1.Parallel(Complementary)
2.Crossed
3. Hidden (Ulterior)

1. Parallel (Complementary)

Parallel or complementary transactions are those where the

individuals respond as expected. This means when I address
someone’s Child ego state from my Parent ego state, I expect them to
respond from their Child.

In such cases – when the players ‘know’ which roles to play – the
interaction can continue through numerous transactions, each person
reacting as expected from their set ego state (see the diagram below).
The numbers in the brackets correspond to the arrows in the
diagram.

Manager (1): You still haven’t

given me the report I asked you
for. You are always doing this.
Team Member (2): It wasn’t my
fault.

Manager (1): It’s never your

fault. So, who’s to blame this
time?
Team Member (2): I wasn’t given
the data by accounts.

Manager (1): Why didn’t you

inform me of this earlier?
Team Member (2): You were busy. I didn’t want to disturb you.
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Manager (1): Just becasue my door is shut, doesn’t mean you can’t
come in…

And so on, until:

a) someone breaks the cycle by coming from a different ego state or
b) the manager feels he has made his point or
c) one or both parties have received the ‘strokes’ (attention) they
need.

2. Crossed

These are transactions in which the respondent comes from an ego

state which is not the one ‘expected’ by the initiator. Because of this,
crossed transactions tend to come to an end sooner than parallel
transactions. The first diagram below shows the interaction with the
respondent in (Controlling) Parent ego state, whereas the second
diagram shows an Adult response to the same initial transaction.

Manager (1): You still

haven’t given me the report I
asked you for. You are
always doing this.

Team Member (2): And you

are always picking on me. If
you were as critical of the
accounts department as you
are of me then maybe I
would get the information I
asked them for.

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 Manager (1): You still haven’t
given me the report I asked you for.
You are always doing this.

Team Member (2): Yes. I

understand the problem and I
would appreciate your help in
getting the last information I need
from the accounts department.

Just by reading the different responses from the team member in

each of the three examples above, we can actually feel the difference
between the contrasting scenarios. We can feel the childish response
in the first example, and its easy to see why that would tend to
perpetuate an unhelpful dialogue. In the second example, both
manager and team member are behaving from their Controlling
Parent ego state. Again, unhelpful. It is only when the team member
deals with situation from the Adult ego state that we feel the
situation is being diffused and a solution to the problem is in sight.
Of course, this is something a good manager would do in the first
place.

3. Hidden (Ulterior)

Hidden transactions are the ones which appear to be straightforward

communications but which actually contain an unspoken message
that carries with it a hidden agenda. It is these transactions which
mostly lead to games being played. They can often be seen in
personal relationships and avoiding them can require some discipline
from the individuals involved. With ulterior transactions there is a
hidden hook which pulls us into a game if we are not aware of what is
happening.

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In the example below we shall consider a husband and wife who have
been together for a number of years. For some time it has bothered
the husband that his wife can sometimes be forgetful or misplace
things. Having used the car the previous night she left the keys on
the kitchen table rather than return them to the shelf by the front
door where they ‘belong’.

Husband: Have you seen the car keys?

This in itself is an innocent question. A request for information which

is represented by the line from Adult–Adult. However, there is an
underlying message shown by the dotted line which indicates a
Parent-Child transaction and can be formulated thus:

Husband: You had the keys last and they are not where they should
be!

This comment is more inflammatory and, because we know there is

an issue between the husband and wife, it is safe to assume it is an
accusation (made from Controlling Parent) to the wife for being
unreliable with the car keys.

How the wife reacts depends on her mood, her awareness of what is
happening and her willingness to play the game. Here are some of
the options:

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 1. Wife: Yes, they are where I left them last night. I told you where
they were when I got in last night, but you didn’t listen. (Parent)
2. Wife: Will you leave me alone? I didn’t do it on purpose, you
know. (Child)
3. Wife: (Oh, you know what I’m like.) I left them on the kitchen
table. (Adult)

Option 2 is the one most likely to prolong the interaction and, as soon
as this happens, the subject of the interaction is no longer the
location of the keys, but the failings of the other person. The husband
and wife are in a game and the longer the game goes on the greater
the pay–off for both people.

For example, the wife can end up screaming at her husband to leave
her alone whilst at the same time feeling useless because she
‘misplaced’ the keys; and the result for the husband may be a
wielding of his perceived superiority over his wife followed by her
walking out on him.

One of the goals of games is to receive attention (so-called ‘strokes’).

So if each individual can receive positive strokes and do so without
being manipulative, they are much less likely to resort to such
behaviour. Option 3 diffuses the situation and hints at the need for
acceptance on the part of the husband – there is also a parental
element which suggests, “I know what you’re trying to do and I won’t
play your game.” Other reasons for playing games are to reinforce our
opinions (of self, others, or the world) or to perpetuate our script.

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 TIME STRUCTURING
This is how Transactional Analysis defines our
use of time. It is an example of the simplicity of
TA because whatever we are doing, it falls into
one of only six categories. More importantly,
knowing that these steps form an effective social
procedure and that each of the first four
elements is necessary for constructive, engaging
interactions, will improve how we relate to each
other and create more effective connections.

 Withdrawal
 Rituals
 Pastiming
 Activity
 Games
 Intimacy

If we link each stage to the garnering of attention (Strokes), we can

see that as we move from Withdrawal towards Activity and Intimacy,
the amount and the intensity of the strokes increases. (It also
becomes clear why game playing is so common, because games are
such an effective way of harvesting strokes.)

The best way to explain the early stages is to imagine people arriving
at a gathering. This may be a meeting, a conference, a party etc.

Withdrawal

Some people sit or stand around on their own. Maybe they are shy,
bored or tired; or maybe they’re having a tough day and would rather
be somewhere else or just left alone. Or maybe they are just
preparing themselves mentally to join the group. Whatever their
reasons, they are withdrawn. Therefore, the only strokes the person
gets are ones they give to themselves. These can be positive or
negative strokes.

Rituals

The next step is to interact. Beginning a conversation follows certain,

unwritten rules. We use pleasantries such as ‘How are you?‘, ‘How’s

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your day going?‘ or ‘Lovely weather for the time of year?‘ These are
the rituals, without which we find it difficult to move to the next level
of interaction. Furthermore, if we don’t use them we make life
difficult for the other person. Imagine if someone just came straight
up to you and simply said “I’m lonely…”. Without the rituals it can be
a little too much to handle and we would need a few seconds or
minutes even, to adapt before we could react appropriately.

Pastiming

Making small talk, or passing the time is the next stage. This is
conversation at a superficial level which allows us to gauge the
situation and the other person without any great commitment to the
relationship. As I wrote in the entry from 11 years ago, I used to
spend too much time in withdrawal waiting for conversations to get
interesting before joining in. Nowadays, I realise that pastiming is
necessary in order to open the door to interesting conversation.

Activity

Describes interactions of a more intense nature. This could mean an

evening out with friends, cooking a meal at home, working together
with a colleague, or just a more involved conversation which goes
beyond the small talk but one which, as with all other activities, is
goal-oriented.

Games

These are psychological games, and they refer to behaviour which is

more manipulative than straight. They are interactions we should
avoid instigating and getting drawn into. We play these games in
order to gain Strokes, reinforce and perpetuate our Script, prove a
belief we have about ourself or the world, or to reinforce our life
position (e.g. ‘I’m Okay, You’re Not Okay’). Games are where the
Drama Triangle roles of Victim, Rescuer, and Persecutor are played
out.

One of the most common games is the ‘Yes, but…’ game. The ‘aim’ is
to focus the attention on oneself by initiating a series of suggestions
from other people for how we can resolve an issue. Each suggestion is
then rejected with a counter argument, which invites more
suggestions, or sympathy for our plight, or frustration (negative

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strokes). By the time the other person is annoyed with us, we have
received so much attention that the game is easily worthwhile. The
more we observe this kind of game, the clearer it becomes that the
instigator is not actually interested in resolving their issue, but in
attracting attention, receiving strokes and, perhaps, giving credence
to their belief that life is hard.

Remembering the script – that we attract the kind of people into our
lives whose scripts will help perpetuate our own – we can conclude
that game players will always find people to play their game. The
actors may change, but the script and the roles remain the same.
Nothing will change unless there is awareness of their behaviour.
The beauty is that when we start to see our behaviour for ourselves,
change is already taking place.

Intimacy

This is the most intense form of interaction and is defined by Stewart

& Joines (1987) as people ‘expressing authentic wants and feelings
without censoring‘. It is most commonly experienced with our loved
ones, but can also be felt in the midst of impassioned arguments in
which we say things without thinking.

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 STROKES

In TA, the term ‘strokes’ is given to the attention, recognition and

acknowledgment we get from each other. It is a fundamental need of
every human. Studies show that if babies are deprived of that basic
contact, they suffer development difficulties and can even die.
Prisoners are punished with solitary confinement, robbing them of
the contact we all need for a healthy existence.

And on a daily basis people everywhere play (psychological) games in

order to gain the strokes they need. We manipulate situations and
each other when all we need to do is be straight about what it is we
are looking for. There are four kinds of strokes, listed here with
examples:

 Positive Unconditional: ‘I love you.’

 Positive Conditional: ‘Thanks for the report.’
 Negative Conditional: ‘You handled the client badly.’
 Negative Unconditional: ‘You’re an idiot!’

In every case unconditional strokes (those not dependent on any

specific event or reason) are more powerful and more intense than
the conditional ones (those which are specifically to do with
something the person has said, done, caused, demonstrated etc.).
And, of course, they are not just verbal. Strokes can also be
exchanged in the form of a smile or a grimace; or through physical
contact such as a handshake or a hug.

Interestingly – and I find this a fascinating aspect of human

behaviour – if we can’t get positive strokes, we’ll take negative ones.
It sounds crazy, but it’s true and the more you think about it the
more sense it makes. It’s one of the reasons why children (and
adults!) misbehave. At a rudimentary level, they just want their
existence to be acknowledged.

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 DRIVERS
In Transactional Analysis, ‘drivers‘ are the behavioural patterns we
unconsciously and repeatedly fall back on, particularly in times of
stress. They are the elements which drive our behaviour.

As with our script, these patterns are laid down very early in our
lives and are shaped by our reactions to the people and events
around us. For example, in our early years we may come to the
conclusion that ‘I am only okay, if I do things perfectly’.

Then, with reference to strokes (the attention and acknowledgement

we seek and need), if we conclude that we are more likely to gain
positive strokes when, for example, we do things perfectly, then that
is what we strive to do. If that conclusion is reinforced because we
actually receive positive strokes for doing things perfectly, then our
pattern of behaviour becomes more entrenched.

There are five drivers:

1.Be Perfect
This person can produce high quality work, but can also get lost in
detail and waste time in perfecting things unnecessarily. Their high
expectations and high standards can cause problems in their work
and their relationships.

Practise accepting that mistakes occur and take note of the

consequences of imperfect work. The world does not end if things are
not perfect..

2. Try Hard

This person will take on all jobs and do their best to complete
everything, showing great enthusiasm and motivation during the
initial stages. The downside is that he or she may take on too much
and not be able to complete anything. Their enthusiasm tends to
wane before the end of a task and they become more interested in
starting something new. They also have a tendency to overcomplicate
tasks. When someone says, ‘I’ll try…’, they are setting themselves up
for failure as well as providing a ready-made excuse because, when it
doesn’t work out, they can always say, ‘Well, I tried.’

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Practise seeing tasks through to completion, stop volunteering, and
don’t do more than is required of you. ‘Try Hard’ means that the
person tries hard but does not actually complete things.

3. Please Others

When given clear instructions on what is expected of them, they can

produce excellent results. However, in the absence of clarity they will
try to second-guess what other people want. Also, their need for
harmony means opportunities for critical feedback and/or healthy
confrontation are often avoided.

Practise asking questions instead of guessing what people want.

Please yourself more often and know that it’s okay to tell people what
you think.

4. Be Strong

These people are very good in a crisis when emotions have to be

‘ignored’, but they often find it difficult to ask for help or support as
they see this as a weakness. Others may perceive them as difficult to
get to know, and their lack of emotional response may make it hard
for others to connect with them.

Practise asking for help, and make time in your schedule for yourself.

5. Hurry Up

This individual does things quickly, which is great when it is

required, but can lead to mistakes which end up costing more time
and energy to rectify. They are able to achieve a great deal in a short
space of time and have an ability to think fast. They often seem
impatient and in a rush, which can prevent them from connecting
effectively with people.

Practise listening carefully to others and allow them to finish. Plan

your work, and relax more.

Generally, we all have aspects of each of the five drivers, but

normally display two or three main ones. Mine are 1 and 3. When we
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identify our drivers we learn more about who we are. When we do the
same with other people we gain insight into our environment:

 How am I likely to react?

 How is the other person likely to react?
 Whose help can I enlist to do a perfect job or to do a job quickly?
 Who will shine when given the chance to serve others?
 Who do I need to keep my eye on with their workload?
 Who can I turn to in a crisis?

All these questions, and many more, can be answered when we

become aware of our drivers and those of others. It leads to more
effective and more harmonious teamwork, as well as providing the
foundations for personal growth.

With these and other tools, we can understand our behaviour.

Understand who we are. Do this and we automatically create the
possibility for growth. And when done with the support and
awareness of others it becomes powerfully effective.

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 SUMMARY
Transactional Analysis (TA) is a very useful and fascinating
framework for analysing the behaviour of both ourselves and other
people. It offers some very useful insights into the impact of different
behavioural styles on relationships between people.

It was defined and evolved by Dr. Eric Berne whose thesis was that
there existed in everyone three quite clearly distinguishable sets of
attitudes and behaviours. He called these ego states: that is
configurations of states or frames of mind. These are readily
recognisable by things that we say, the ways in which we say them
and the support that we give them by way of body language gestures
and mannerisms.

Frames of mind. (Ego states)

TA involves using knowledge and skills to recognise frames of mind;

and from this to adopt a frame of mind that determines whether the
transaction (i.e. communication, what the sender sends and what the
receiver hears) is to be effective, ineffective, business like or a crossed
transaction leading to a misunderstanding.

The frames of mind (ego states) are as follows: Parent, Adult and
Child. The "Parent" is further modified into Parent controlling and
Parent nurturing. The "Child" is further modified into Natural Child
and Adapted Child.
Their importance lies in the fact that there is nothing in human
communication that cannot be attributed to one of these frames of
mind. People write and talk from different states and it is possible to
identify which it is in all cases. From this, a method and choice of
response and an appropriate frame of mind can be adopted so that
the transaction proceeds in an effective way.
It is important to appreciate that a person can be in a Parent state
although not a parent and that the Adult and Child states bear no

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relation to physical age. A person of seventy years can be in Child
frame of mind.

T.A. "proper" refers to the analysis of transactions between people. It

is the process of considering which ego state in one person is
interacting with which ego state in another person.
Berne identified three types of transactions and three corresponding
"rules of communication". Complementary and crossed transactions
require analysis at behavioural level only, whereas ulterior
transactions involve hidden agendas at psychological level only, that
is, the message is implied, not stated.
When this is the case the ulterior transaction is inevitably that which
is acted upon (and which the initiator will probably have devised); or
the ulterior is that which is intended to be received (for example
when a politician says to his opponent "I respect your views", what he
actually means is "I do not respect your views").

Transactions may be complementary - from adult to adult, parent to

child, or child to parent.
Transactions may be crossed - any other variation (parent to parent;
child to child; adult to child; child to adult; adult to parent; parent to
adult).

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 REFERENCES

 www.itaaworld.org
 www.ericberne.com
 www.counselling-directory.org.uk
 www.businessballs.com
 www.changingminds.org
 www.c-volution.nl

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