Irrational beliefs, individualism-collectivism, and adjustment

Abstract

Ellis (1994) has argued that a failure to actualize both personal individualism and social collectivism is irrational and leads to maladjustment. In a test of these assumptions, two measures of irrational beliefs—the Survey of Personal Beliefs (SPB) and the Belief Scale—were correlated with indices of individualism, collectivism, and psychosocial adjustment. Both individualism and collectivism had positive and negative mental health implications. Values associated with each covaried directly. The validity of several SPB subscales was challenged, but data for especially the Belief Scale confirmed that individualistic and socially oriented forms of actualization can be part of a balanced functioning of personality.