Group Ego State Measure (GEM)

Abstract

The identification of ego states and transactions was investigated by operationally defining the variables and then by listening for them on tape recordings from a natural setting (therapy group). Using the Group Ego State Measure (GEM), four judges made diagnoses on 30 randomly selected, 30-second sections from a tape of the group. There was high reliability between judges in diagnosing ego states in the Parent, Adult, Child category (reliability, 78%), ego states in the Controlling Parent, Nurturing Parent, Adult, Adapted Child, Little Professor, Natural Child category (reliability, 71%), and the two kinds of transactions, complementary and crossed (reliability, 81%). Results from the GEM support Berne's observation that ego states and transactions as they naturally occur are identifiable phenomena.