The Games People Play
September 17, 2006
"The Games People Play: The Basic Handbook of Transactional Analysis"
By Eric Berne
1964 Grove Press paperback edition
We don't often think of the reasons why we do so many of the everyday things that we do. Since we think of ourselves as individuals with a free, unfettered will and some control over our own lives, it is a little difficult for us to grasp the idea that many of our actions and reactions are governed by deeply ingrained social programming. So many of the things we do we do because we have been explicitly or implicitly taught to do them since birth. What is so fascinating about "The Games People Play" is that it shines a light on this internal programming and gives a glimpse at the complex reasons behind even the most basic exchanges. Why does a person complain about something that cannot be fixed? Why do people ask for help they don't really want? Why do people brag? Because they are looking for something from the people around them, some sort of support or comfort for their own ego. They are playing games, games Berne deconstructs rather efficiently. While the language of the social situations might be outdated and near the end the book starts to slip a little into the self-help label that has long been attached to it, there is enough food for thought here to make it worth working through.
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