Irrational Beliefs Test — Albert Ellis's REBT, 20 Questions

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was developed by psychologist Albert Ellis in the 1950s and is one of the earliest forms of cognitive behavioural therapy. Its core idea is simple: what troubles us is less the event itself than our beliefs about it.

Ellis explained this as ABC: A (Activating event) → B (Belief about it) → C (Consequences — feelings and actions). Faced with the same A, the more rigid and absolute the B, the more likely C becomes a strong, lasting feeling such as anxiety, anger or depression.

REBT groups irrational beliefs into four: demandingness ('this must happen'), awfulizing ('it would be awful'), low frustration tolerance ('I can't stand it') and self/other-downing ('then I am / they are worthless'). Ellis saw demandingness as the root of the other three.

Each has a rational alternative: preference instead of demand ('I'd like it, but it doesn't have to be'), 'bad but not awful', 'hard but bearable', and unconditional acceptance instead of downing. This test includes one alternative-belief item for each of the four to balance the answers.

In REBT, change starts with D (Disputing): testing a belief with empirical questions ('What evidence says it must be so?'), logical questions ('Does must follow from wanting?') and pragmatic questions ('Does this belief help the life I want?').

The aim of disputing is not to erase feelings but to turn them into healthy negative ones — concern instead of anxiety, annoyance instead of rage, sadness instead of depression. This test is a check for self-understanding and practice, not a diagnostic tool.