This articles describes the author's encounter with two “positive” psychologies—transactional analysis and positive psychology— and some of the similarities and differences in their founding, evolution, and branding. Because transactional analysis has remarkable properties as a metalanguage, many positive psychology ideas can be considered from a TA perspective and translated into TA concepts. On the other hand, positive psychology may be able to provide research evidence for concepts from transactional analysis. This comparison highlights the contradictions deeply embedded within transactional analysis theory between a philosophical framework based on the empirical scientific paradigm of the 1950s, which focuses on “objectivity,” and a more contemporary constructivist philosophy, which focuses on “subjectivity.”

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Article
Positive Psychology and Transactional Analysis
Pages 61-74
Published online: 28 Dec 2017
Article
Positive Psychology and Transactional Analysis
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