Individuals functioning in any kind of group may benefit from understanding these concepts. A human model sits at the heart of all social theory. Sometimes the paradigm is defined as a natural or primitive man. Sometimes the only definition is implied in the formal speculation. In this work, we attempt to organize the thoughts of several transactional psychologists on the subject of strokes.
Strokes are the tangible interpersonal contacts that satisfy psychic needs .
Each satisfaction represents the allaying of a hunger which must be nourished for the proper function of the personality. These hungers are value free. They can be satisfied as surely from negative or destructive transactions as from positive. Understanding psychic appetites is easier in a theoretical framework. Freud's model of the Id will do.