The British Journal of Psychiatry 137: 572-573 (1980)
© 1980 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
The assessment of the ego states
W Falkowski, DI Ben-Tovim and JM Bland
The hypothesis that ego states, as defined in Transactional Analysis, are
distinct and identifiable phenomena was tested. Ten TA therapists were
asked to assess which of the three ego states, Parent, Adult or Child, were
present in forty statements extracted from the tape of a family therapy
session. The level of agreement reached was statistically highly
significant. There was a certain amount of interrater variability, and
potential sources of disagreement are discussed.