Irrational Beliefs and Three Interpersonal Styles

Abstract

To examine whether certain irrational beliefs described by Albert Ellis covary with specific interpersonal styles, 217 undergraduates completed R. G. Jones's Irrational Beliefs Test and a revised version of the Interpersonal Checklist popularized by T. Leary. A principal components analysis of the structure of the Interpersonal Checklist produced three distinct factors, and factor scores derived from this were correlated with the 10 irrational beliefs measured. Eight of the irrational beliefs covaried with at least one interpersonal style. The irrational belief that “one must have approval from others” correlated with both an “hostile-dominant” and “submissive” interpersonal style. This finding, along with several other significant correlations, is explained through a negative reinforcement paradigm. All correlations were low to moderate in magnitude. Findings suggest that the relationship between certain irrational beliefs and different interpersonal styles may at times be fairly complex.