Games People Play : The Psychology of Human Relationships

Do you realise you, and all the people you know, play games? All the time? Sexual games, marital games, complex games that you�re not even aware of as you go about your usual life? You might play games like �Alcoholic� or �The Frigid Woman' at weekends, or perhaps 'Ain't it awful' or �Kick me� while you�re at work. First published in the 1960s and recognized as a classic work of its kind by professionals, the bestselling �Games People Play� is also an accessible and fascinating read. It is a wise, original, witty and very sensible analysis of the games we play in order to live with one another � and with ourselves. Preface 3 Introduction 4 1 SOCIAL INTERCOURSE 4 2 THE STRUCTURING OF TIME 5 PART I Analysis of Games 8 CHAPTER ONE Structural Analysis 8 CHAPTER TWO Transactional Analysis 10 CHAPTER THREE Procedures and Rituals 14 CHAPTER FOUR Pastimes 16 CHAPTER FIVE Games 19 1 DEFINITION 19 2 A TYPICAL GAME 20 3 THE GENESIS OF GAMES 24 4 THE FUNCTION OF GAMES 25 5 THE CLASSIFICATION OF GAMES 26 PART II A Thesaurus of Games 28 Introduction 28 1 NOTATION 28 2 COLLOQUIALISMS 29 CHAPTER SIX Life Games 30 1 ALCOHOLIC 30 2 DEBTOR 33 3 KICK ME 34 4 NOW I'VE GOT YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH 35 5 SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO 36 CHAPTER SEVEN Marital Game 39 1 CORNER 39 2 COURTROOM 40 3 FRIGID WOMAN 41 4 HARRIED 43 5 IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU 44 6 LOOK HOW HARD I'VE TRIED 45 7 SWEETHEART 46 CHAPTER EIGHT Party Games 47 1 AIN'T IT AWFUL 47 2 BLEMISH 48 3 SCHLEMIEL 48 4 WHY DON'T YOU-YES BUT 49 CHAPTER NINE Sexual Games 54 1 LET'S YOU AND HIM FIGHT 54 2 PERVERSION 54 3 RAPO 55 4 THE STOCKING GAME 56 5 UPROAR 57 CHAPTER TEN Underworld Games 59 1 COPS AND ROBBERS 59 2 HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF HERE 61 3 LET'S PULL A FAST ONE ON JOEY 62 CHAPTER ELEVEN Consulting Room Games 63 1 GREENHOUSE 63 2 I'M ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU 63 3 INDIGENCE 65 4 PEASANT 67 5 PSYCHIATRY 68 6 STUPID 70 7 WOODEN LEG 71 CHAPTER TWELVE Good Games 73 1 BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY 73 2 CAVALIER 73 3 HAPPY TO HELP 74 4 HOMELY SAGE 75 5 THEY'LL BE GLAD THEY KNEW ME 75 PART III Beyond Games 76 CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Significance of Games 76 CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Players 76 CHAPTER FIFTEEN A Paradigm 77 CHAPTER SIXTEEN Autonomy 78 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The Attainment of Autonomy 80 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN After Games, What? 81 APPENDIX 81 The Classification of Behavior 81 The need for this book was indicated by interested requests from students and lecture audiences for lists of games, or for further elaboration of games mentioned briefly as examples in a general exposition of the principles of transactional analysis. OBSERVATION of spontaneous social activity, most productively carried out in certain kinds of psychotherapy groups, reveals that from time to time people show noticeable changes in posture, viewpoint, voice, vocabulary, and other aspects of behavior. Games People Play (1964) explores the fascinating and bizarre world of psychological games, where players unconsciously manipulate each other into acting in alienating and self-destructive ways.