Adult Ego State Research Articles

Functional Fluency for Educational Transactional Analysts

“Functional fluency” is proposed as a term to describe the behavioral manifestations of the integrating Adult ego state. An approach to teaching the integrating Adult ego state model, one with particular relevance for educators, is presented. A rationale for the importance of personal development and therapy for educators using the concept of functional fluency is outlined, and a practical framework for undertaking aspects of this work is described.

A Validation of Transactional Analysis in Increasing Self-Esteem among Participants in a Self-Reparenting Program

This study investigated the validity of transactional analysis (TA) theory and the practical application of self-reparenting to small-group participants as a means of enhancing their self-esteem. Participants (N=10) were taught basic TA theory and increased their awareness of how and why they made self-limiting decisions. They learned a variety of self-esteem enhancing skills. Each participant used his or her Adult ego state to assess the needs and wants of his or her Child ego state and then restructured his or her Parent ego state to meet these needs. Results showed that participants in the treatment group as compared to the waiting control group increased their feelings of self-esteem as measured by three self-esteem scales. Additionally, participants significantly increased their sense of self-efficacy and self-actualization.

Enhancing Managerial Cross‐cultural Awareness and Sensitivity: Transactional Analysis Revisited

A major concern facing multinational corporations in the 1990s is how to prepare managers to operate effectively within another culture. Unfortunately, many corporations seldom provide cross‐cultural management training because it is considered unnecessary or ineffective by top management. Given such corporate mentality, a major concern facing trainers is how to develop cultural awareness and improve cultural sensitivity. Introduces a new approach for enhancing the efficacy of cross‐cultural training by extending one of the most effective psychotherapeutic counselling methods – transactional analysis – over the cross‐cultural setting. Presents conceptual framework which suggests that a crucial element of cross‐cultural training for managers must be to help them achieve an “adult ego state”, and thus ensure that they maintain the most effective cross‐cultural position – my culture′s OK, your culture′s OK. By using transactional analysis as a prerequisite to other approaches in cross‐cultural training, trainers can provide a more comprehensive programme which will not only enhance sensitivity and awareness, but ultimately lead to a greater usage of and appreciation for cross‐cultural training by organizations.

A TA View on Resistance to Affirmative Action

Resistance to affirmative action follows a predictable five-stage cycle. An important factor in this resistance is the strength of personal prejudice, which emanates from a double contamination of the Adult ego state. Interventions to reduce such resistance include decontamination and redecision work, which must be specifically focused at each stage of the resistance.

Cognitive Distortions in Borderline Personality Disorder: Therapeutic Implications

Adult ego state functioning is often problematic for individuals with borderline personality disorder. A triad of cognitive distortions typical of the disorder is presented: “I'm a helpless person,...

Changes in Functional Ego States following Treatment for Drug Abuse

The Adjective Checklist (ACL), scored for functional ego states, was administered to 68 heroin addicts before and after inpatient, short-term, hospital-based treatment for drug abuse. The initial configuration and patterning of needs corresponded to the Adapted Child ego state, characterized by high needs for succorance, abasement, heterosexuality, nurturance, exhibition, and change. Following an average of 18 days of treatment, the subjects increased their need for achievement, dominance, endurance, and orderliness—all aspects of the Adult ego state—and reduced their need for establishing dependent relationships and for abasement. They also showed closer congruence between their ideal and real selves. The results suggest that the ACL can be used to objectively measure changes in ego states.

The Relationship of Teacher Adult Ego State to Interactions with Retarded Students

Research has demonstrated that one consequence of mental retardation is that retarded individuals may be treated as if they are much younger than their chronological ages. This study considers the possible relationship between a teacher's Adult ego state functioning and his or her tendency to interact with retarded adult students in a way which respects the students' chronological ages.

Everyday Hypnotic Inductions

This paper describes the process by which, outside the awareness of either participant, the psychological level of a message may have the power of a hypnotic command. The authors propose that this occurs as a result of a complete or partial temporary decommissioning of the receiver's Adult ego state. It is further suggested that the conditions under which this may take place, in the scripting of children or the script reinforcing experiences of everyday situations, are directly comparable to formal techniques of hypnotic induction. For each of ten conditions, examples are presented illustrating the effect for that condition in three different settings: (1) field/naturalist, (2) formal hynoptic induction, and (3) clinically relevant situations.

Ego State Components in Help Wanted Advertising

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a theory that can be applied to the principles of classified recruitment advertising. Organizations attempt to attract and select qualified applicants through various advertising approaches ranging from the classified “help wanted” ad to full page corporate recruiting ads. Similarly, job seekers make decisions about which jobs to apply for based on the messages sent by the company through the ads. The Ego State model in TA allows for analysis of recruitment ads to insure that the ads correctly portray the job, the organization, and the person desired. In a study of 200 classified advertisements, it was found that the Adult ego state dominates recruitment messages and that there are significantly different ego state profiles for different job categories. Implications for practical applications and future research are noted.

Philosophical Links to TA: Hegel and the Concept of the Adult Ego State

The “Hegelian Model” of triadic logic is applied to the PAC triad to explain certain conceptual connections among the three basic ego states. Oftentimes, the Adult is regarded simply as a third alternative to Parent and Child. An argument is developed to support the logical primacy of the Integrated Adult ego state, which is considered to subsume the Parent and Child by integrating them into the full range of Adult behavior. This is in distinction to the more traditional concept of the Adult per se. The Hegelian Model is held to provide theoretical justification for the PAC triad.

Philosophical Links to TA: Kant and the Concept of Reason in the Adult Ego State

Traditional TA theory describes the Adult ego state as being deliberate, calculating, and thoughtful, and emphasizes the notion of Reason. Other points of view consider the spontaneous, intimate, and aware aspects of the Integrated Adult, and emphasize the concept of freedom. These seemingly conflicting approaches may be reconciled by the moral philosophical principle of Immanuel Kant that Reason is a faculty which produces freedom from inclination, impulse, and emotional compulsion.

Differentiation of the Adult Ego State: Analytical Adult and Experiencing Adult

Responses from 111 certified ITAA members who assigned 97 behavioral descriptors to applicable ego states were analyzed by latent partition analysis, and item loadings for the latent categories determined. For the Adult ego state, the categories of Analytical Adult and Experiencing Adult were distinguished. Descriptors for the former include “gathers data,” “solves problems,” “organizes,” and “defines reality.” The descriptors for the Experiencing Adult include “cooperative,” “flexible,” “ethically responsible,” and “assertive.” The Analytical Adult is seen as being similar to the Adult as traditionally described, whereas the Experiencing Adult is considered to be a combination of Ethos and Pathos as described by E. Berne, or likened to the Integrated Adult of M. James and D. Jongeward.

Psychosomatic Disturbances and Tragic Script Payoffs

Cautions that closing, by decision of the Adult ego state, of the “escape hatches” of killing, going crazy, or committing suicide, leaves underlying script issues and Child (C2) conflicts unresolved. The increased turmoil and stress within the Child may be manifested as somatic disturbances. The necessity for diligent monitoring by the therapist for possible somatic changes, and the paying of appropriate therapeutic attention to the related script issues are emphasized.

Meeting the Little Professor of the Psychotic Client

The author describes a state of heightened perception and intuition observed on initial contact with many psychotic clients. She attributes this to a poorly established sense of trust which interferes with a shift from the Little Professor, or A1 ego state, to the Adult or Parent ego state when reacting to people at first meeting. Suggestions are given for using this ego state behavior to the therapist's and client's mutual advantage.

The Willing Adult

As part of the current revival of interest in the experiential and integrative possibilities of the Adult ego state the work of Otto Rank is examined. Particular attention is paid to his concept of will as the directing dimension of the personality. Each ego state may be understood as organizing and integrating itself for an appropriate expression of its Will. The goal of personal autonomy is reached in the Integrated Adult which, in this paper is described as the Autonomous Will of the Willing Adult. The Willing Adult directs the responsiveness of the Child, and responsibility of the Parent by means of the receptivity of the Experiencing Adult and the activity of the Analytical Adult.

Feelings in the Adult Ego State

Feelings in the Adult Ego State

Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments

* Winners and Losers * An Overview of Transactional Analysis * The Human Hunger for Strokes and Time Structuring * The Drama of Life Scripts * Parenting and the Parent Ego State * Childhood and the Child Ego State * Personal and Sexual Identity * Stamp Collecting and Game Playing * The Adult Ego State * Autonomy and Adult Ethics