TRANSACTIONA

L ANALYSIS

Presented By:
Arvind Singh Rathore
Roll No :06
Foundation Programme
NIFT,Bhubaneswar
 Transactional Analysis
 Transactional Analysis is a theory
developed by Canadian-born US
psychiatrist Eric Berne during the
late 1950s.
 Transactional Analysis is a social
psychology and a method to improve
communication.
 Transactional Analysis is underpinned by the
philosophy that:
 People can change
 We all have a right to be in the world and be
accepted.
 Understanding
Transactional Analysis
 A model for explaining why and how:
People think like they do
People act like they do
People interact/communicate with
others

 In simple words:
Model of Communication
Theory of Personality
A Study of repetitive patterns of behaviour
 Understanding
Transactional Analysis
 Transactional Analysis (or TA as it is
often called) is a model of people and
relationships that was developed during
the 1960s by Dr. Eric Berne. It is based
on two notions, first that we have three
parts or 'ego-states' to our 'personality,
and secondly that these converse with
one another in 'transactions' (hence the
name).
 Transactional Analysis
 Studies interaction between
individuals
 Promotes social interaction
 Focuses on Personal growth and
personal change
 Is a science-a theory of human
behaviour and personality
 Is a language & a tool for communication 
 Gives workable answers to questions like “Why
Me?”, “What Can I Do”
 Helps shape individual Destiny
 Fosters Peace & Harmony
 What is
Transactional Analysis
 According to Eric Berne, when two people encounter each
other, one of them will speak to other. This is called the
Transaction Stimulus. The reaction from the other person is
called the Transaction Response.

 The person sending the stimulus is called the Agent

 The person who responds is called the Respondent
 TA is a technique to help people better understand their
own and other’s behaviour, especially in interpersonal
relationships.
 TA became the method of examining the transaction
wherein: ‘I do something to you, and you do something
back’.
 What is TA?
 TA is primarily concerned with the
following:
 Analysis of Self
Awareness
 Analysis of Ego States
 Analysis of Transactions
 Script Analysis
 Games Analysis
 Analysis of life positions
Analysis of Self Awareness
(The Johari Window)
 The Blind Self
 The blind self quadrant is unknown to self but
known to others
 Other people know what is happening
to a person, but he himself is unaware
of it.
 Very often such blind behaviour
is copied by individuals from certain
significant people unconsciously right
since the childhood.
 Reason for this unawareness is that other people
are not willing to be open and do not give relevant
feedback to the person concerned.
 There are chances of interpersonal conflict in this
situation.
 The Open Self (Arena)
 The Open quadrant refers to behviours,
feelings and motivations of an individual
which are known to self and also known to
others.
 Individuals under this quadrant are very
clear about what they are doing, what they
are feeling, and what are their motivations.
 Similarly others are also very clear about
his actions, feelings and motivations.
 In such type of interpersonal relationship,
chances of conflict, if any, will be very little.
 The Hidden Self (Closed)
 The Hidden Self is the quadrant,
which is known to self but not
known to others.
 This is a very private and
personal window because only
the person concerned knows what
is happening.
 The individual is aware about the
hidden self but does not want to share it with others.
 Other people in the system are unable to perceive the
verbal and non-verbal behaviour of the person in
quadrant.
 Like blind self, chances of interpersonal conflict are
there in this situation.
 The Unknown Self (Dark)
 This quadrant is unknown to self and
unknown to others.
 The unknown self is mysterious in nature
 Sometimes feelings and motivation go so
deep that no one including the person
concerned knows about them.
 In psychology, this would be called the
subconscious or unconscious.
 In such situations, there is much
misunderstanding and interpersonal
conflict is almost sure to result.
 Analysis of Self Aawareness
 Guidelines for Providing feedback for effective
interpersonal relations:
 Be descriptive rather than judgmental
 Be specific rather than general
 Deal with things that can be changed
 Give feedback when it is desired.
 Consider the motives for giving and receiving
feedback.
 Give feedback at the time the behaviour takes place
 Give feedback when its accuracy can be checked
with others.
(National Training Laboratory)
Our Brain (According to Berne)
 Determines what we think and how we act
 Acts like a tape recorder while recording
1) Events
2) Associated feelings
 Has 3 distinct parts or ego states
1) Parent
2) Adult
3) Child
 The 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.
 It explains three ego states:
 Parent : taught concept
 Adult : thought concept
 Child : felt concept
 Parent Ego State
 Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral patterns based
on messages or lessons learned from parents and other
‘parental’ or authoritarian sources
 Shoulds and should nots; oughts and ought nots; always
and never
 Prejudicial views (not based on logic or facts) on things
such as:
religion dress salespeople
traditions work products
money raising children companies
 Nurturing views (sympathetic, caring views)
 Critical views (fault finding, judgmental, condescending
views)
 Adult Ego State
 Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral
patterns based on objective analysis of
information (data, facts)

 Make decisions based on logic,

computations, probabilities, etc. (not
emotion)
 Child Ego State

 Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral

patterns based on child-like emotions,
impulses, feelings we have experienced
 Child-like examples

Impulsive Happy Curious

Self-centered Pleasure seeking Eager to please
Angry Rebellious
Fearful Happy
 Contamination of the
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.

 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.
 Parents Contamination
 When contamination comes from parents it
is called Prejudice

 Parent- “Do as I do”

 Child- “What shall I do?”
 Adult- “I will be frank with you”
 Child Contamination
 When contamination comes from child it
is known as Delusion
Double Contamination
 Human Interaction Analysis
 A transaction = any interaction or
communication between 2 people
 People send and receive messages out of and
into their different ego states
 How people say something (what others hear?)
just as important as what is said
 Types of communication, interactions
 Complementary
 Crossed
 Ulterior
Transactional Stimulus and Response
 The initiator of the transaction is called
the transactional stimulus.
 The response of the respondent is
called transactional response.
Intonations: It’s the Way You Say It!
Placement of the emphasis What it means

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I was going to take someone else.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of the guy you were going with.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I’m trying to find a reason why I
shouldn’t take you.

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Do you have a problem with me?
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of going on your own.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of lunch tomorrow.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Not tomorrow night.
Complementary ‘Transactions’
 Interactions, responses, actions regarded as
appropriate and expected from another person.
 Parallel communication arrows, communication
continues.
Example 1: #1 What time do you have?
#2 I’ve got 11:15.
P P

A A

C C
 Complementary ‘Transactions’
Example 2:

#1 You’re late again!

P P
#2 I’m sorry. It won’t
A A happen again.

C C
 Crossed ‘Transactions’
 Interactions, responses, actions NOT regarded as appropriate or
expected from another person.
 Crossed communication arrows, communication breakdown.

Example 1 #1 What time do you have?

#2 There’s a clock on the wall, why don’t you
figure it out yourself?
P P

A A

C C
 Crossed ‘Transactions’

Example 2 #1 You’re late again!

#2 Yeah, I know, I had a flat tire.

P P

A A

C C
 Ulterior ‘Transactions’
 Interactions, responses, actions which are
different from those explicitly stated
Example #1 How about coming up to my room and
listening to some music?

P P

A A

C C
 Typical Games
 Between A shop keeper and a house
wife:
 “This one is better, but you cannot afford
it”
 Between A Teacher and a Student:
 “This is a good topic, but you cannot
handle it.”
 Between an Expert and a Candidate:
 “What you just said is totally wrong”