Which statement best describes a complementary transaction?

Which statement best describes a complementary transaction?

• A. A message sent from the ego state of Person A which is ignored by the other person
• B. A message sent to the ego state of Person B which is responded to in a different ego state
• C. Messages that occur on two levels, the social or overt level and the hidden or psychological level
• D. A message sent from the ego state of Person A which is responded to in the same ego state, or a message sent to the ego state of Person B which is responded to in the same ego state

Answer: (D)

Complementary transactions happen when a message is sent from one ego state and the reply comes from the same ego state in the other person, so the communication lines up and flows predictably (for example, Adult to Adult, or Parent to Child with a Child response, etc.). The best description here is a message sent from a person’s ego state and answered in the same ego state by the other person, or a message addressed to a person’s ego state and answered back from that same ego state. This keeps the interaction parallel and functional. The other possibilities don’t fit as cleanly: one describes the message being ignored, which disrupts the transaction; another describes the response coming from a different ego state than the one addressed, which is a crossed transaction; and a third refers to two levels of meaning (social and psychological), which is about double messages rather than the ego-state alignment of a complementary transaction.

Complementary transactions happen when a message is sent from one ego state and the reply comes from the same ego state in the other person, so the communication lines up and flows predictably (for example, Adult to Adult, or Parent to Child with a Child response, etc.). The best description here is a message sent from a person’s ego state and answered in the same ego state by the other person, or a message addressed to a person’s ego state and answered back from that same ego state. This keeps the interaction parallel and functional.

The other possibilities don’t fit as cleanly: one describes the message being ignored, which disrupts the transaction; another describes the response coming from a different ego state than the one addressed, which is a crossed transaction; and a third refers to two levels of meaning (social and psychological), which is about double messages rather than the ego-state alignment of a complementary transaction.