The predictive validity of rational-emotive understandings of religiosity, values, and irrational beliefs was found to be limited. Two rational-emotive irrationalities, both of which were consistent with an adaptive intrinsic religious motivation, correlated negatively with a number of other irrationalities. Subjects from a religious college and those with a more intrinsic commitment were not uniformly more irrational than those from a state university and those who were indiscriminately antireligious. Indices of individualism and a relativistic hedonism, both of which are value systems recommended by rational-emotive theory, were not identified as clearly positive in their psychological influences. Overall, these data support previous suggestions that the personality effects of particular beliefs must be examined within the ideological surround in which they operate (Watson, Morris, & Hood, 1990).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllportG.W., & RossJ.M. (1967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432–443.
2.
BalesR.F., & CouchA.S. (1969). The value profile: A factor analytic study of value statements. Sociological Inquiry, 39, 3–17.
3.
BerginA.E. (1983). Religiosity and mental health: A critical reevaluation and meta-analysis. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 14, 170–184.
4.
BerginA.E., MastersK.S., & RichardsP.S. (1987). Religiousness and mental health reconsidered: A study of an intrinsically religious sample. Journal of Counseling Psychology.34, 197–204.
BrandenN. (1969). The psychology of self-esteem.New York: Bantam.
7.
DonahueM.J. (1985). Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: Review and meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 400–419.
8.
EllisA. (1962). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy.Secaucus, NJ: Citadel.
9.
EllisA. (1980). Psychotherapy and atheistic values: A response to A.E. Bergin's “Psychotherapy and religious values.”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 635–639.
10.
FreudS. (1961). The future of an illusion.New York: Norton. (Original work published 1927)
HolmesA.F. (1983). Contours of a world view.Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
13.
HoodR.W.Jr. (1978). The usefulness of the indiscriminately pro and anti categories of religious orientation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 17, 419–431.
14.
HoodR.W.Jr., MorrisR.J., & WatsonP.J. (In press). Quasi-experimental elicitation of the differential report of religious experience among intrinsic and indiscriminately proreligious types. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
15.
JonesR.G. (1968). A factored measure of Ellis’ irrational belief system with personality and maladjustment correlates. Dissertation Abstracts International, 29, 1379B. (University Microfilms No. 69–6443)
16.
KahoeR.D. (1985). The development of intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientations. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 24, 408–412.
17.
MacIntyreA. (1988). Whose justice? Which rationality?Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
18.
MaslowA. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
19.
MorrisR.J., HoodR.W.Jr., & WatsonP.J. (1989). A second look at religious orientation, social desirability, and prejudice. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society.27, 81–84.
20.
PrimaveraL.H., TantilloJ., & DeLisoT. (1980). Religious orientation, religious behavior, and dogmatism as correlates of irrational beliefs. Rational Living, 15, 35–37.
21.
RobinsonJ.P., & ShaverP.R. (1973). Measures of social psychological attitudes.Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
22.
WatsonP.J., HoodR.W.Jr., FosterS.G., & MorrisR.J. (1988). Sin, depression, and narcissism. Review of Religious Research, 29, 295–305.
23.
WatsonP.J., HowardR., HoodR.W.Jr., & MorrisR.J. (1988). Age and religious orientation. Review of Religious Research, 29, 271–280.
24.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., & HoodR.W.Jr. (1988). Sin and self-functioning, part 3: The psychology and ideology of irrational beliefs. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 16, 348–361.
25.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., & HoodR.W.Jr. (1989a). Sin and self-functioning, part 4: Depression, assertiveness, and religious commitments. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 17, 44–58.
26.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., & HoodR.W.Jr. (1989b). Sin and self-functioning, part 5: Antireligious humanistic values, individualism, and the community. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 17, 157–172.
27.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., & HoodR.W.Jr. (1990). Intrinsicness, self-actualization, and the ideological surround. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18, 40–53.
28.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., & HoodR.W.Jr. (in press). Attributional complexity, religious orientation, and indiscriminate proreligiousness. Review of Religious Research.
29.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., HoodR.W.Jr., & BidetmanM.D. (1989). Religious orientation types and narcissism. Manuscript under review.
30.
WatsonP.J., MorrisR.J., HoodR.W.Jr., & FolbrechtJ. (1990). Dependency, “irrationality,” and community. Journal of Psychology and Theology18, 334–347.
31.
WoodsP.J. (1983). On the relative independence of irrational beliefs. Rational Living, 18, 23–24.
32.
WoodsP.J. (1984). Further indications of the validity and usefulness of the Jones Irrational Beliefs Test. Journal of Rational-Emotive Therapy, 2, 3–6.
