Cristina MOGOAȘE* & Simona ȘTEFAN
Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Abstract
The central tenet of the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is that rational beliefs trigger functional emotions, while irrational beliefs trigger dysfunctional emotions. However, both rational/irrational beliefs and functional/dysfunctional emotions turned out to be difficult to assess. With respect to functional and dysfunctional emotions, there are currently no available instruments that make the distinction according to the REBT theory. We developed a new instrument designed to assess functional and dysfunctional emotions with the aim of empirically verifying the theoretical relationship between these constructs. The newly-developed instrument proved adequate psychometrical properties and seemed to better reflect the theoretically relationship between the constructs. Strengths and limitations of the present research, as well as future research directions and implications for clinical practice are discussed.
Keywords: the binary model of distress, REBT, functional and dysfunctional negative emotions, measurement
