_______________________________________________________________________

Exercise Examples Transactional Analysis

In the following examples, please try to identify from which ego state is being spoken out of :

Husband: “Are there onions in the meal?”

Wife: “You always nag about my cooking.”
“If you don’t like the way it tastes, then don’t eat it.”
“Yes, there are.”
“Can’t you find that out yourself?”

Wife: “I’d like to ask the Maiers to come over on Sunday afternoon.”
Husband: “One can arguably expect that one has some peace and quiet at least
on a Sunday.”
“Preferably not, I had an exhausting week and would prefer to relax.”
“Always you with your Maiers! Doesn’t one ever have some peace
and quiet here?”

Mother: “Put on your warm jacket because it’s cold outside.”

Daughter: “You always treat me like a little kid.”
“Can’t you stop criticizing me?”
“I’m warm enough.”
“Really? Go figure!“
“It’s not cold; it’s at least 10 degrees.

Colleague: “I’m thinking about whether or not I should take a computer course.”
Boss: “That’s a good idea, which one have you thought about?”
“It’s about time. You should’ve taken one a long time ago.”
“But please not during working hours. I already don’t know now how
we should accomplish our projects.”

Boss: “In the future, please file customer records in this folder.”
Colleague: “Why can’t we do it like we did up to now?
“I think that the previous filing system was all right.”
“Make up your mind finally!”

© prepared by Dr. Maryam Bigdeli, MC, MBA for the Berndorf Executive Academy