Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1975 A validation study of instruments designed to measure irrationality Geoffrey Porosoff Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Porosoff, Geoffrey, "A validation study of instruments designed to measure irrationality " (1975). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 5437. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/5437 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS ». This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. 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Xerox University Micmlllms 300 North Zesb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 75-25,349 PORQSQFF, Geoffrey, 1950- A VALIDATION STUDY OF INSTRUMENTS DESIGNED TO MEASURE IRRATIONALITY. Iowa State University, Ph.D., 1975 Psychology, clinical Xsrox University ^ScrOfiSmS, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. A validation study of instruments designed to measure irrationality by Geoffrey Porosoff A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major; Psychology Approved; Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. Ftor the Graduate Co&Lege Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1975 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Review of Irrationality Instruments 10 Rationale, Objectives, and Hypotheses 27 METHOD 31 Sample 31 Procedure 31 Instrumentation 32 Analysis 34 RESULTS 38 Exclusion of Data 38 Detailed Sample Description 38 Factor Analysis 39 Correlations among Factors 56 Correlations among Factors and other Variables 66 Correlations among the IBT, FBI, IVT, and other Variables 73 One-item Rating of Irrationality 76 Order Effects 76 DISCUSSION 82 Hypothesis 1 83 Hypothesis 2 86 Hypothesis 3 89 Demographic Variables and the Factors 92 Social Desirability and the Factors 95 iii Page Conclusions 97 Future Research 101 REFERENCES 103 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 109 APPENDIX A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION 110 APPENDIX B: PERSONAL BELIEFS INVENTORY 111 APPENDIX C; IRRATIONAL BELIEFS TEST 115 APPENDIX D; IRRATIONAL VALUES TEST 119 APPENDIX E; MARLOWE-CROWNE SOCIAL DESIRABILITY SCALE 120 APPENDIX F: DEPRESSION ADJECTIVES CHECK LIST 122 APPENDIX G: FEAR SURVEY SCHEDULE 124 APPENDIX H; EYSENCK PERSONALITY INVENTORY 127 APPENDIX I; TENNESSEE SELF-CONCEPT SCALE 130 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Comparison of IBT scores for experimental Ss (pre-treatment) with other Ss (Trexler & Karst, 1973, p. 152) " 23 Table 2. Eigenvalues and percentages of variance of ir­ rationality items for the first twenty factors 40 Table 3. Factor 1: Evaluating 41 Table 4. Factor 2: Neuroticism 45 Table 5. Factor 3: Rationality-I 48 Table 6. Factor 4: Avoidance 49 Table 7, Factor 5: Perfectionism 51 Table 8. Factor 6; Rationality-II ' 52 Table 9, Factor 7; Fear of failure 54 Table 10. Content, means, standard deviations, and discrimi­ nant reliabilities of the factors 55 Table 11. Correlations among factors and the other variables (males and females combined) 57 Table 12. Correlations among factors and the other variables (males only) 59 Table 13. Correlations among factors and the other variables (females only) 61 Table 14. Correlations between college gradepoint average and all other variables 63 Table 15. Correlations between log salary and all other variables 65 Table 16= Correlations among the IBT, PBI, IVT, and other variables (N = 348) 74 Table 17. Means and standard deviations for the three orders 78 Table 18. Within-factor, within-scale inter-item correlations 80 1 INTRODUCTION An important current trend within the theories and practices of psychotherapy is the reconciliation between the cognitive and be­ havioral psychologies. Neither of these schools of thought are particularly recent additions to the literature of psychopathology or personality. One example of a cognitive theorist is Rokeach (195b; 1960; 1964), who in his investigations of authoritarianism and dogmatism dealt with the formal properties of belief systems. An individual's primitive or core beliefs, according to Rokeach (1960), are said to "develop early in life, are generally unquestioned, and are responsible for the sense of personal identity and stability that the person has about himself and the physical and social world" (Levy, 1970, p. 272). An example of a cognitive approach of pos­ sibly greater theoretical importance than Rokeach's, is that of George Kelly. Kelly (1955) conceives of people as scientists, con­ stantly trying to predict and explain their environment as perfectly as possible. The tools that Kelly postulates are used for predic­ tions and explanations are individualized, hierarchical, personal construct repertoires. A cognitive point of view that is rather different from either of the above is that of Classer's (1965) reality therapy, which emphasizes the importance of values and responsibility. For all cognitive approaches, the concept of cog­ nitive content is important, and has been described in terms of the idea of "self" (e.g., Murphy, 1947; Maslow, 1954) going all the way 2 back (in American psychology) to William James (1890). Behavior modification has also been written about and employed for a number of years (e.g., Watson & Rayner, 1920; Jones, 1924). The concepts of positive and negative reinforcement, extinction, and counterconditioning have become part of the everyday vocabulary of many personality theorists and clinicians. Behaviorists are no longer viewed as belonging to a totally different approach from psychoanalysts, existential therapists, cognitively oriented thera­ pists, etc. In fact, a clear trend has emerged whereby the princi­ ples and mechanisms of behavior modification are being used in con­ junction with a variety of other techniques, some of which have a philosophical basis rather alien to the radical behaviorism (e.g.. Skinner, 1953; 1955-6; 1957; 1963) from which they emerged. This blending of techniques and therapies has been greatly facilitated by the work of researchers in the area of social learning, such as Bandura (1968; 1969) and Rotter (1954; 1960; 1966), and by such in­ fluential cognitive theorists as Miller, Galanter, and Pribram (1960). Consequently, many psychologists have shifted their theoretical posi­ tions. For example, Lazarus (1971) now includes a variety of cog­ nitive factors in his broad-spectruîTi behaviorism; Thoresen (1973; Thoresen & Mahoney, 1974) attempts to use the technology of behavior modification in pursuit of goals typically identified with "humanis­ tic" psychology; Mischel (1973) now refers to "cognitive social learning;" and Mowrer (1967) emphasizes the relevance of values and responsibility. BoTl»;ers (1973) may be beating a rather dead horse in 3 his recent critique of "situationism," in that the S-R psychology that he so effectively dismembers has already been expanded and modified to include many of the "biocognitive" (Bowers, 1973, p. 314) factors that he discusses (e.g., Mischel, 1973). A current school of thought that has integrated cognitive and behavioral principles, and which makes considerable use of philosophy as well, is the rational-emotive, or A-B-C theory of personality and behavior change