Abstract
In contrast to previous formulation of rational-emotive theory, the present formulation is based on comprehensively critical rationalism (rather than logical empiricism), identifies negative evaluations (bad, wrong, awful) as the specific etiology of unwanted (dysphoric) emotions, and clarifies the definitional nature of such evaluations. In contrast, other cognitive-behavioral theories emphasize external events, faulty inferences, or the client's perception or construal of the situation as the source of the undesired emotional responses. It is difficult to choose among these theories because the purported etiological agents are confounded, and we do not have adequate measures of the degree to which people hold and understand various beliefs. Individuals can confirm the theory by noting their emotional reactions to those specific beliefs identified as irrational in this formulation. Dysphoric emotions (anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, jealousy, and shame) result, to a considerable extent, from fundamentalist, absolutistic, moral beliefs, and might be largely eliminated if children were no longer indoctrinated with these points of view.
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This project was supported, in part, by Grant MH-39077 from the National Institute of Mental Health. William Chaplin, Raymond DiGiuseppe, Timothy G. Dowd, Albert Ellis, Lewis R. Goldberg, Laury Goolsby, Sarah E. Hampson, William H. Hendricks, Bobbie G. Hopes, Oliver P. John, Dean Peabody, Tina K. Rosolack, William B. Stiles, Ronald W. Thebarge, Denise M. Town, and an anonymous reviewer all made many helpful suggestions in response to earlier versions of this manuscript. I am indebted to them all.
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Rorer, L.G. Rational-emotive theory: II. explication and evaluation. Cogn Ther Res 13, 531–548 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01176066
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01176066