Transactional Analysis (TA) in Communication - Communication | Organizational Behaviour

Transactional Analysis (TA) in Communication
Communication | Organizational Behaviour
BBA | BBA-BI | BBA-TT | BCIS
Management Notes

Transactional analysis is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy wherein social transactions are analyzed to determine the ego state of the patient (whether parent-like, child-like, or adult-like) as a basis for understanding behavior.

1. Ego states: The unit of analysis used in TA for understanding human behaviour is called ego states. According to Berne, each person has three basic ego states namely parent, adult, and child.

2. Types of transactions: A transaction is a unit of social interaction between two persons. Transactions can be analyzed according to the ego states involved. They are (a) simple (complementary and crossed) and (b) complex or ulterior.

3. Strokes: A stroke in TA means a unit of social recognition. The recognition can be positive or negative.

4. Games people play: Games are characterized by a number complementary ulterior transactions in which the outcome is fairly certain. They are dysfunctional ways of spending our time and payoff is always a bad feeling for people involved.

5. Psychological positions (Life positions): We often play games strengthen the psychological positions we have taken about ourselves and about others. There are four basic psychological positions viz., I am Ok, you are ok; I am ok, you are not ok; I am not ok, you are ok and I am not ok, you are not ok.

6. Benefits of TA: TA especially is useful in sales and other areas where success depends on customer relations. In short the benefits of TA are (a) it can help to improve the leadership style (b) it can help to improve communication and resolve conflicts, (c) it helps employees to understand their personality and improve it, and (d) improvement interpersonal transactions etc.