Transactional analysis
The study of human behavior 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 behavior affects and affected by the behavior of others. One of the major problems in the study of organizational behavior is to analyze and improve the interpersonal relationships. One basic approach to study interpersonal relations in an organizational 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 understands their own and other’s behavior, especially in interpersonal relationships. It is a good method for understanding interpersonal behavior. 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 behavior.
Transactional analysis is primarily concerned with following:
- ANALYSIS OF SELF AWARENESS - 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 behaviors 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 comprising of 4 parts.
- JOHARI WINDOW OPEN BLIND
- (known to others and also self)
- (unknown to self but known to others)
- HIDDEN UNKNOWN
- (known to self but unknown to others)
- (unknown to self and unknown to others)
- ANALYSIS OF EGO STATES - The ego plays an important role in human behavior. People interact with each other in terms of psychological positions or behavioral 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: child, adult and parent. People of any age have these ego states in varying degree. A healthy person is able to move from one ego state to another.
- Parent ego state: The parent ego state means that the values, attitudes and behaviors of parent 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:
- Judge mental
- Rule maker
- Moralizing
- Over protective
- Indispensable
- 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 analyze it, generate alternatives and make logical choices.
- Child ego state: the child ego state is characterized by very immature behavior. The important features of child ego state are creativity, anxiety, depression, dependence, fear, joy, emotional sentimental etc.
- 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 behavior and the behavior 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:
- Complementary transactions: Both people are operating from the same ego state. There can be nine complementary transactions.
- Adult-Adult transactions
- Adult-Parent transactions
- Adult-Child transactions
- Parent-Parent transactions
- Parent-Adult transactions
- Parent-Child transactions
- Child-Parent transactions
- Child-Adult transactions
- Child-Child transactions
- Crossed transactions: a crossed transaction is one in which the sender sends message behavior 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.
- Ulterior transactions: two ego states within the same person but one disguises the other one.
- 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 behavior in the most important aspects of his life. A script is a complete plan of living, offering prescriptions, permissions and structure which make one winner or loser in life.
- 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: 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 position. 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 powerless when they compare themselves to others.
- I am not OK, you are not OK: people in this position tend to feel bad about them and see the whole world as miserable. They do not trust others and have no confidence in themselves.
- STROKING - Stroking is an important aspect 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:
- Positive strokes: the stroke one feel good, is a positive stroke. Recognition, approval are some of the examples.
- Negative strokes: a stroke one feel bad or not good is a negative stroke. Negative strokes hurt physically or psychologically.
- Mixed strokes: a stroke may be of a mixed type also. Example: the boss comments to a worker “you did an excellent job in spite your limited experience.
- GAMES ANALYSIS - When people fail to get enough strokes at work they try a variety of things. One of the most important things is that they play psychological games. A psychological game is a set of transaction with three characteristics:
- The transactions tend to be repeated.
- They make sense on superficial or social level.
- 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 involves physical injury.
