The primary motivation source seems to be a need for strokes. Preferably positive strokes, but negative strokes are better than no strokes at all. That this is innate seems to have been confirmed by experiments with animals, where those deprived of positive strokes become severely dysfunctional. Interestingly, I remember reading about an experiment with rats,
where one group was given positive strokes one group negative strikes and the third was denied contact.
There was not much difference between those receiving positive and negative strokes as adults, but the no-stroke group matured into totally vicious and unpredictable animals which chased a researcher around the laboratory! It would seem logical to give positive strokes to your children, but many individuals have become balanced and successful adults despite a plethora of negative strokes in childhood.
This initial motivation is later overlaid by the fundamental life position of the life script, which becomes a strong secondary motivator and plays the major role in the course of people’s lives.
Sexual identity and how it develops is a very difficult topic. It would seem reasonable that the child mimics the parents in this regard, taken on the sexual role of the appropriate parent. However there is a lot of evidence which points to the prime driver being flooding of the foetus with testosterone and estrogen at different stages of development. Studies have also shown that there may be very little correlation with upbringing. Boys whose genitalia were underdeveloped and thought to be girls developed normal genitalia at puberty together with a normal sexual identity. There is an interesting book called “Brainsex” which details these findings.
It should be remembered that the different Child ego stages do not replace each other but continue to co-exist throughout life. When the literature speaks of someone operating from a Child state, it could be any one of the three and there could be vastly different reactions all from within the Child ego state.
Overall, it seems that we decide very early on whether we are going to succeed or fail and what the general direction of our lives will be; Transactional analysis seems to be very good at helping us understand where we and others we come in contact with are coming from. However, studies have shown it is less effective than other therapies at permanently changing dysfunctional behaviours, although it may be very good at achieving incremental improvements in attitudes because of greater understanding. Modifying the deep-seated belief systems underlying a life script seems better performed by other modalities.
(continued from part 1)