Graphology and Transactional Analysis

Abstract

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a social psychology developed by Eric Berne in mid 50s. His creators background was primarily psychoanalytical, and this is apparent in TAs structure and organization. TA, though, offers a radically new approach to Psychology, in that it chooses its basic objects of study in objectively observable elements: strokes. A stroke is defined as any action somebody does that has the effect of acknowledging someones (also his own) existence. Building on strokes and their characteristics, TA studies transactions (communication exchanges, that are hence made up of strokes) and the management of ones time (structured in activities, rituals, games, ). Moreover, it studies the source of ones outgoing strokes (they can come from the Child, the Adult or the Parent Ego state) and the managing of incoming strokes (with the concept of stroke filtering) which is linked to the fundamental concept of OK-ness. According to TA, finally, all these concepts are simply tools that people use in order to live their life according to their script: a life plan they chose early enough in their life, and through which they filter all their experience and feelings. All these structures are objectively recognizable with some training through peoples behaviour, and lead to a very effective psychotherapy which is often brought on in groups, because it is easier to spot transactions in a differentiated environment. TA is nowadays widespread, and from the original root many different branches were born, all stressing some particular aspect of the general setting. Our research focused on understanding through handwriting: - the relations among the Ego States (which is the most active, which arent used, ); - the Drivers, that is, the conditions the person feels he has to satisfy in order to feel OK. There are five drivers: Please me, Try hard, Be strong, Be perfect, Hurry up. We brought on our research in collaboration with a TA instructor, who helped us with TA theory and gave us handwritings of people she was working with. We are sure, hence, that we based our work on safe diagnosis made by a TA professional. We think we found good correspondences between these TA concepts and Graphology, and we are positive that this new approach to handwriting can lead a graphologist to do his job better. In particular, being very bound to observable actions, TA concepts enable the graphologist to describe very well ones interactions and behaviour while Graphology often tends to remain bound more to the inner psychological (even unconscious) world. Also, knowing the dominating Ego State of a person is a good tool to tune his graphological report in such a way as he can more easily understand it and get something useful from it.