45 rational and 45 irrational thinkers as defined by Ellis's (1962) theory and assessed by their scores on the Irrational Belief Test were compared on a series of Trail Making tasks. Both groups were assigned to one of three conditions which involved presentation of irrational, neutral, and rational self-referent statements. Superior performance displayed by the rational group provided support for the rational-emotive theory position that irrational beliefs (ideas) generalize their adverse effect to actual performance situations. Except for the first trial the data did not support the expectation that types of self-statements differentially influence efficiency of performance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BeckA. (1976) Cognitive therapy and emotional disorders. New York: International Univer. Press.
2.
BonadiesG. A.BassB. A. (1984) Effects of self-verbalizations upon emotional arousal and performances: a test of rational-emotive theory. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 59, 939–948.
3.
BurgioK. L.GlassC. R.MerluzziT. V. (1981) The effects of social anxiety and videotape performance feedback on cognitions and self-evaluations. Behavior Counseling Quarterly, 1, 288–301.
4.
CacioppoJ. T.GlassC. R.MerluzziT. V. (1979) Self-statement and self-evaluation: a cognitive-response analysis of social anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 3, 249–262.
5.
DavisonG. C.FeldmanD. M.OsbornC. E. (1984) Articulated thoughts, irrational beliefs, and fear of negative evaluation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 8, 349–362.
6.
EllisA. (1962) Reason and emotion to psychotherapy. (5th ed.) New York: Lyle Stuart.
7.
EllisA.GriegerR. (1977) Handbook of rational-emotive therapy. New York: Springer.
8.
GoldfriedM. R.SobocinskiD. (1975) Effect of irrational beliefs on emotional arousal. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 504–510.
9.
GormallyJ.SippsG.RaphaelR.EdwinD.Varvil-WeldD. (1981) The relationship between maladaptive cognitions and social anxiety. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 49, 300–301.
10.
GormanB. S.SimonW. E. (1977) Personality correlates of rational and irrational beliefs. Rational Living, 12, 25–27.
11.
HarrellT.ChamblessD.CalhounJ. (1981) Correlational relationships between self-statements and affective states. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 5, 159–173.
12.
HollingsheadA. B. (1965) Two-factor index of social position. New Haven, CT: Yale Univer. Station.
13.
HollonS. D.KendallD. C. (1980) Cognitive self-statements and depression: development of an automatic thought questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 4, 383–395.
14.
JonesR. (1968) A factored measure of Ellis' irrational belief system, with personality and maladjustment correlates. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas Technological College, Lubbock, TX.
15.
KellyG. (1955) The relationship of personal constructs. New York: Norton.
16.
MahoneyM. (1977) Cognitive therapy and research: a question of questions. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1, 5–16.
17.
MayJ. R.JohnsonH. (1973) Physiological activity to internally elicited arousal and inhibitory thoughts. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 82, 239–245.
18.
MeichenbaumD. (1977) Cognitive-behavior modification: an integrative approach. New York: Plenum.
19.
NelsonR. (1977) Irrational beliefs and depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45, 1190–1191.
20.
NewmarkC. S.FrerkingR. A.CookL.NewmarkL. (1973) Endorsement of irrational beliefs as a function of psychopathology. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 29, 300–302.
21.
ReitanR. M. (1971) Trail Making Test results for normal and brain-damaged children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 33, 575–581.
22.
RimmD. C.LitvakS. G. (1969) Self-verbalization and emotional arousal. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 14, 181–187.
23.
RosenL.NelsonW. M. (1983) The effects of rational and irrational self-verbalizations on performance efficiency and levels of anxiety. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 208–213.
24.
RusselP. L.BrandsmaJ. M. (1974) A theoretical and empirical integration of the rational-emotive and classical conditioning theories. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 389–397.
25.
SchillJ.MonroeS.EvansR.RamanaiahN. (1978) The effects of self-verbalizations on performance: a test of the rational-emotive position. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 15, 2–7.
26.
Sutton-SimonK.GoldfriedM. R. (1979) Faulty thinking patterns in two types of anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 3, 193–203.
27.
ZingleH. W. (1965) A rational therapy approach to counseling underachievers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Univer. of Alberta, Alberta.
