Adult-Adult I amam O.K. P CAPC APCA PCA PCA P CA P C APCAParent -Parent INTERPERSONAL I not O.K.

P CAPC APCA PCA PCA P CA P C APCAParent-Adult CA CA PC Child Parent PChildChild Adult -Adult CAdult Child-Child AP AP Transaction

BEHAVIOUR

Interpersonal Behaviour is the interaction of two persons at a time. In this interaction, the individual behaves in a particular way which may be either cooperative or conflicting. Interpersonal Cooperative Behaviour : When the interaction between two individuals is mutually gratifying, it is a cooperative behaviour. In this, both persons are engaged in complementary transactions. The prerequisites for cooperative interpersonal behaviour are mutual trust and respect, concern for each others needs, and interaction with complementary ego states. In an organization, such behaviours are functional and lead to the accomplishment of organizational objectives, providing satisfaction to the individuals involved. Interpersonal Conflicting Behaviour : Due to different personalities, different value systems, interest conflict, role ambiguity etc, interpersonal conflict may arise in the organization. This behaviour is, however, not functional for the organization. Hence, management must take effective steps to overcome such behaviours. TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS (TA) TA refers to people's interactions with reference to social transactions. TA was developed by Eric Berne for psychotherapy in 1950. It helps to understand how people react with each other while communicating & behaving in society. Transactional Analysis has been developed to analyse and improve interpersonal behaviour. When people interact, there is a social transaction in which one person responds to another. The study of these transactions between people is called Transactional Analysis. Behaviorists have studied TA under 2 heads - Ego States - Life Positions
EGO STATES

Ego states are the person's way of thinking, feeling & behaving at any particular time. These refer to the psychological analysis of interaction. Ego is the reality in between the morality of Id & the more practical superego. TA uses this theory for identifying 3 important ego states:a) Id (Child) b) Ego (Adult) c) Superego (Parent) a) Child State (Id) - Here a person behaves like an impulsive child. The child state is impulsive, confronting, insubordinate, emotional, joyful or rebellious. People develop this state from childhood experience. People behave like children when in child state. They behave emotionally & rebel against the superior when constantly poked by the superior. They tend to have very emotional & immature behaviors. Egs of Child State (Id) - Employees generally say "Whatever you say, I will follow; "You blame me only again & again" etc. b) Adult State (Ego) - People in this state are rational, calculative, factual & mature. They gather relevant information, analyze it, interpret & develop alternatives & then select the best choice. People are fair & objective. Emotional & dominant features are not exercised by them. Egs. - "This is high thinking, we should go into reality"; We do the kind of job that we need". c) Parent State (Superego) - It involves protective control, judgemental, valueladen, critical, instinctive & controlled nurturing. It involves superimposing rather than following real problems. People are domineering. People overact & drive protective loving behaviour to their subordinates. They treat others as children & behave in a mature way. Rules & regulations have to be followed strictly. At times, they become skeptical of other's abilities. This is superego. Egs - Why do you not follow the rules"; "Be careful with rules". All the above states are effective to develop interpersonal relations. There are positive & negative features of TA. The ego states are observed not only by words used but also by the kind of tone used, posture, gestures & facial expressions.

TRANSACTIONS BASED ON EGO STATES When people interact, they involve in a transaction with others. A transaction occurs when a stimulus (verbal or non verbal) from a person is responded by another person. Three types of transactions are a) Complementary Transactions b) Crossed Transaction c) Ulterior Transaction d) Gallows Transaction
a) Complementary Transactions - A transaction is complementary when the

stimulus & the response from one ego state to another are parallel. The message from one person gets the predicted response from the other person. In this, both the persons are usually satisfied & communication is complete. Complementary Transaction - (9)

Parent-Child
i) Adult-Adult Transaction The manager in the adult ego state reasons out

issues, clarifies & informs employees of issues & has concern for facts & human needs. Both the persons act in a rational manner. It is an ideal situation. The life position is I am O.K.. Data is processed, decisions are made & both parties are working for the solution, satisfaction is achieved at both ends.

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Disadvantage Since the child ego is not there, the transaction can be a dull one due to the lack of stimulation that a child can provide. If a deadline for a decision is there, the superior may be required to take a decision with his parent ego state.
ii) Adult-Parent Transaction In this, the manager uses the information he

has processed & the employee in the parent ego prefers to use clichs & rules of the past. The employee tries to control & dominate the manger by using the parent ego. Disadvantage Effective only initially on a temporary basis. It helps the new manager understand the rules under which the employee operates. The employee can create hostile feelings towards managers with adult ego in the long run.

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iii) Adult Child Transaction Is effective only when the manager is aware of

the ego state of the employee. The manager allows the employee (in child state) to be creative. Disadvantage The employee if acts irrationally due to his child ego may create problems. Also if the employees ego is assumed to be that of an adult ego (realistic & practical) it can be frustrating to the manager & the employee.

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iv) Parent Parent Transaction The manager in the parent ego uses I am

O.K. you are not O.K. life position. He will be a source of admonitions, rewards, rules, criticism & praise. It is beneficial only when the employee supports the manager. S
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Disadvantage There can be competition among the manager & the employee as the employee tries to promote his own idea instead of those of the manager.
v) Parent Adult Transaction Does not last long because frustration results.

The manager gets frustrated since he employee will not perform as directed. And the employee gets frustrated because of the managers failure to act as an adult.

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vi) Parent Child Transaction It is ideal situation. The manager is in the

parent ego state and employee in the child ego state. The employee does not feel much responsibility & pressure. The child prevents much conflict & resorts to easy operations.

Disadvantage In the long run, the employees feel that they are not capable of doing anything. He may feel frustrated as he feels his personality has not developed & has to surrender his child ego.
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vii) Child Parent Transaction The manager is in the child ego state & thus

although he is creative, he is not able to contribute effectively. So the employee controls the manager. The parent will be strong on the child & the manager will yield to the employee. Disadvantages The manager yields to the employee thus the manager may lose his popularity, may be demoted or atleast ridiculed.

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viii)

Child Adult Transaction The adult employee controls the child manager. Disadvantage The employee tends to get encouraged especially when the manager makes decisions based on whims, fancies & emotions. The organization may lose many good employees especially those who act on rational basis.

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ix) Child Child Transaction Both the manager & the employee are in child

ego states. Both of them are acting on whims & fancies & hence this is a disadvantageous situation. The manager cannot lead his employees successfully so he is liability to the organization. The organizational performance is affected.

S R All the above 9 complementary transactions are not ideal. Only adult adult transactions are good. At times, parent child is also good.
b) Crossed Transaction (Non-Complementary Transaction) They occur

when the stimulus response lines are not parallel. This situation occurs when the person who initiates transaction expects a certain response & does not get it.

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The manager tries to deal with the employee on adult-to-adult basis but the employee responds on child-to-parent basis & the communication is blocked. The manager may explain the message & transactions in a parent ego state or adult ego state, but employees receive in a different ego state & behave differently. The manager may ask them to perform a job but the employees do not obey the order. They may flatly refuse saying that they are unconcerned about the job.

c) Ulterior Transaction It is the most complicated since the communication

has double meaning. On the surface level, the communication has a clear adult message but it carries a hidden message on the psychological level. Hence, these are undesirable. For example, one may show his hospitality on the surface level but may pull the leg of the other person in the form of jokes.
d) Gallows Transaction It is characterized by inappropriate love or smile in

a social interaction (transaction). For example, a person may smile at another persons misfortune ; a brother beaming over the risk his sibling has taken and thereby losing in business.
LIFE POSITIONS

An individual, right from his childhood, develops certain assumptions and philosophy, such philosophy forms the basis of his identity, sense of worth & perceptions of other people. This remains with the person for life time unless any major experiences go about changing it. These positions are called Life Positons (psychological positions).
(i) I am O.K. you are O.K. Is a rationally chosen life position. It develops

after the individual has a no of O.K. experiences with others. People in this can solve their problems constructively. They accept others presence & decisions. They feel life is worth living. This is based on adult ego. They (managers) experience a higher level of give & take. Managers tend to have a more consistent pattern of confidence. They are able to express freely what they feel good about others. They delegate authority & feel comfortable about the same.
(ii) I am O.K. you are not O.K. Here, people blame others for their miseries.

The person has the attitude that whatever he does is right. It is a distrustful life position. It results when a person was too much ignored when he was a child. They have a rebellion child ego. Managers operating with this position give critical and oppressive remarks. They point out the flaws of the employees always. They lack trust or confidence in the skills & talents of others. They dont believe in delegation of authority & feel that decentralization is a threat.

(iii)I am not O.K. you are O.K. Persons feel powerless as compared to

others. It is based on ones feelings about oneself. People in this life position always grumble for one thing or the other. Mangers with this life position tend to give & receive bad feelings. They use their bad feelings as an excuse to act out against others & it comes back to them in the same way & thereafter they feel guilty for their acts & then have bad feelings against their own self. Hence, are erratic & unpredictable.
(iv) I am not O.K. you are not O.K. People undertake this life position when

they have lost interest in life. In extreme case, may commit suicide. Occurs when individuals are neglected by their parents & are brought up by servants. Managers with this life position get put down strokes from others; do not make decision in time; make frequent mistakes; delegate authority inappropriately and look upto others for final decisions. You are O.K. I am O.K. you are O.K. I am not O.K. you are O.K. I am O.K. you are not I am not O.K. you are not O.K. O.K. You are not O.K. Psychological (Life) Positions Out of all the 4 positions, I am O.K. you are O.K. is the most desirable one (providing adult-adult transactions) where there is acceptance of self & others. This position is acquired through education, understanding, positive & mature experiences. APPLICATION OF TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS TA is applied in different forms (i) Stroking (ii) Leadership (iii)Conflict Resolution (iv) Benefits

(v) Game Play (i) Stroking TA includes stroke i.e. right from infancy, people need cuddling,

affection, recognition & praise throughout their lives. These are positive strokes. Everyone needs the stroke i.e. recognition. If people do not get positive stroke, they seek negative strokes. Strokes are required for a healthy behaviour. It can be through physical, verbal or eye contact. Employees are patted by the manager & given recognition for their performance. The parent to child stroke gives motivation to the employees. Adult to adult communication is also visible in a healthy atmosphere. The stroke that makes one feel not O.K. is a negative stroke. At times, people seek negative stroke for reasons like guilt or a low self image & when the subordinate receives negative stroke from his superior, he feels relieved of his mistake since the expected punishment has been received. There may be a mixed stroke also, which is a combination of positive and negative stroke. For example, the supervisors remark like You did excellent inspite of your limited experience in the field. This comment recognizes excellent work (a positive stroke) and lack of experience (a negative stroke).
(ii) Leadership A manager with a dominant attitude becomes parental. He

behaves like an autocrat rather than a real parent. Leaders must have a parent-to-child ego state for effective performance.
(iii)Conflict Resolution The parent ego state helps in the following of rules

& regulations. The child state avoids conflicts. Conflicts are avoided due to the parent-to-child state & also with the adult-to-adult ego state. The cross ego state creates conflicts which should be smoothed out through the parent & child approach. Employees who believe in win-win outcome use the I am O.K. you are O.K. state.
(iv) Benefits TA based on the parent & child concept creates a congenial

atmosphere. Benefits are observed in such a situation & there is improved interpersonal communication.
(v) Game Play Transactional Analysis discusses how people use their time.

Psychological games are a pattern of transactions that have surface logic, but hidden meanings and attempt to draw in an unsuspecting participant. It is a hard fact of life that both straight forward and devious people commonly play games. The outcome of games is almost always a win-lose proposition.

People working with the spirit of a game achieve success in life. They are ready to accept the win-lose position. Features of psychological games Transactions are often repeated. They make sense at the social or superficial level. Atleast one of the transactions is ulterior i.e. there is an intention of passing the buck, making other people commit mistakes, complaining about ones own weaknesses etc. Psychological games may prevent people from becoming winners and help in drawing others attention towards oneself. People play games for the following reasons Strengthening psychological position People hold life positions and they may like to enforce them through games. Example, if a person holds not OK position, he may emphasize it through games i.e. by putting himself down. Getting positive strokes People often want positive strokes and if they are not able to get them, they try and set such situations where they can get positive strokes. Avoiding openness People who are scared of transparency and responsibility in relationships play games to avoid openness. Games block intimacy between people and create distance between them. This is how the game player can shirk responsibility.