short stories with tragic endings

transactional analysis

do you often feel yourself changing personalities, depending on who you are with or where you are at?

this phenomena of possessing a specific personality within a social transaction is called an ego.

there are three separate types ego states which we inhabit at any point during a discussion. PARENT - ADULT - CHILD.

EGO STATES- is defined by ERIC BERNE phenomenologically as a coherent system of feelings, and operationally as a set of coherent behavior patterns.

PARENT- certain moralistic values and principles evolve as we mature into adulthood, these are often modeled after our parents and authoritative figures. although, we have also developed our own Parent functions. you are often in your Parent ego state while performing countless, mundane tasks. this state also grants the ability to raise actual children.

ADULT- in the automotive industry it is common to assign two or more technicians to diagnose an issue on a vehicle. the troubleshooting and repair will proceed smoothly and efficiently if the technicians involved remain in their Adult ego state. Although, if one technician slips in to his Child ego the others must respond from their Parent ego sate. The Adult ego holds no opinions or judges anyone as separate. Its main propose is to keep us alive.

CHILD- have you had so much enjoyment during an activity, you stopped and thought to yourself? "that you were acting like a child." well, indeed you were. you had entered your spontaneous, creative Child ego. conversely if a professor would ask of you to be silent and you responded proclaiming he was not the boss of you; you would of entered the rebellious Child ego. lastly, you have manners, which are behaviors influenced by your parents when you were a child.

The Parent ego state along with the Adult ego state with the addition of the Child ego state creates the roles of our personalities during social transactions. the illustration on the left demonstrates this. while the one on the right is a simplified form to help in the aid of understanding.

if two or more people encounter each other in a social gathering, sooner or later one of them will speak, or give an indication of acknowledging the presence of the others. this is called the TRANSACTION STIMULUS. another person will then say or do something which is in some way related to this stimulus, and this is called the TRANSACTION RESPONSE.

the simplest transactions are those which both the stimulus and response come from the Adult ego. For example, when operating, the surgeon decides he needs the scalpel, thus he holds out his hand. the nurse estimates the amount of force needed and the distance required to place the handle of the scalpel exactly where the surgeon expects it.

second in simplicity are Child-Parent transactions. whereas the fevered child asks for a glass of water and the nurturing mother graciously responds with a glass of water.

both these transactions are COMPLEMENTARY; that is the response is appropriate and follows the natural order of human relationships. these transactions tend to create a chain, so that each RESPONSE follows a STIMULUS. the first rule of communication is that communication will proceed smoothly as long as transactions are complementary. in principle, communication can proceed indefinitely .

when a CROSSED TRANSACTION occurs, communication is broke off. the most common crossed transaction is when the stimulus is Adult-Adult and the given response is Child-Parent or vice versa. when this occurs the Adult-Adult conversation is immediately halted and will only begin once everyone returns to Adult.

ROLE- as described by Carl Jung is your persona represented by your public image. although Eric Berne believes a role is less opportunistic and more deeply rooted in the individual's fantasies. For instance, during a PTA discussion one player make take the role of tough Parent, another the role of righteous Parent, a third of indulgent Parent and a fourth the role of helpful Parent. All four exhibit a Parental ego state, but each presents himself differently.

the confirmation of his role stabilizes the individuals POSITION. Berne describes POSITION as a predicative statement which influences all of the individual's transactions; primarily manifested by the mental attitude; in the long run it determines his destiny.

it is important to recognize which ego state others are actively participating in, so we may adjust our roles accordingly. this will allow greater control over our maneuvers ,aiming to receive the highest amount of payoff possible, per transaction. if ego states are not identified early in the game role confusion is likely to continue indefinitely.