Teachers’ Irrational Belief Scale: Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version and Measurement Invariance across Genders

Irrationality refers to human thoughts and beliefs that signify lack of rationality and entail erroneous perceptions about situational, personal, or collective idiosyncrasies, while it is independent of one’s intellectual ability. Irrational beliefs are ubiquitous in all social and cultural groups and attract a special interest in behavioral sciences, where the primary concern is the development of instruments for identifying and measuring them. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties of Greek version of Teachers’ Irrational Belief Scale (TIBS-G), a 25-item self-reported instrument using data collected from 835 participants. The exploratory procedure, implementing scree plot with parallel analysis, demonstrated the dimensionality of four factors, namely: Self-downing (SD), Authoritarianism (A), Demands for Justice (DJ), and Low Frustration Tolerance (LT). The corresponding reliability measures using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega were ranged between 0.70 and 0.80. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis showed an adequate fit of the measurement model [χ2 = 579.98, df = 183, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.960; TLI = 0.956; RMSEA = 0.051]. In addition, measurement invariance was performed, which demonstrated differences between genders. Finally, discussion on the importance of irrational beliefs and the possible implementation of the TIBS instrument in educational research is provided.

How Do We Get Our Beliefs for Statistical Discrimination?

From a decision theoretical perspective, there is one major question that the concept of statistical discrimination raises: When is it rational to have a certain belief and use it for statistical discrimination and when not? By definition, the correctness of a statistical difference between two or more groups regarding some characteristic is not a requirement for statistical discrimination (Lippert-Rasmussen, 2014). You also discriminate statistically if the difference and / or its relevance does not actually exist but you believe it to exist. But what defines the boundary between a rational and an irrational belief then?

Fallacies in Decision Making From an Asian Perspective

Decision-making is integral for organizational success and for that the basic tenet is rationality. Yet, no decisions in the workplace are purely rational. Irrational decision-making behaviours is the irrational belief of employees. Irrational employee behaviours can cause a billion dollars revenue loss. The purpose of this paper is to study the complex employee phenomenon of workplace irrational decision mak and unearth its dimensions. Hence, this study is envisaged as a lived-in experience using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participation was by hundred and twenty-three (123) employees working in various capacities in western India through theoretical sampling frame. The results indicate that it is a multidimensional phenomenon and prominent are religious, pseudo-scientific and sorcery based behaviours. Thus, these findings can help the organizations to understand the irrational behaviours of employees and aid managers to recognize the decision of their employees to mitigate the bias in irrational decisions.

Rational emotional behavior: How to reduce irrational beliefs in victims post-natural disasters

Natural disasters that occur over a long period of time and the level of damage that occurs often affect the psychological condition of the individual causing individuals to experience traumatic experiences that are hard to forget. Traumatic experiences experienced as a result of natural disasters also influence one's view of the natural disaster itself. Some people may have rational views while others have irrational views. This irrational view often makes individuals feel even more traumatized by the bad experiences they have experienced. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effectiveness of rational emotive behaviour counselling in reducing irrational beliefs experienced by people experiencing natural disasters. The research method used was quantitative with an experimental design. The research subjects were earthquake victims in Tomara Village, South Halmahera Regency who had irrational beliefs in the high category based on the results of filling in data from the irrational belief scale. The results showed that rational emotive behaviour therapy counselling was effective in reducing irrational beliefs experienced by people experiencing natural disasters.

Disputing Irrational Belief in Adolescent Using Cognitive Simulation: A Case Study

The adolescent problems discussed in individual counselling sessions vary widely. The approach the counsellor uses has an effect on the way the problem is solved and the follow-up determines the recurrence of the same problem. The use of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy focuses on aspects of irrational thinking as the root of individual problems. This article examines the case of a teenager and then determines the existing irrational thought patterns. This study uses a qualitative case study method by analyzing the counselling process. This study concluded that adolescents with emotional maturity tend to be potentially irrational by "demanding" and "awfulizing". This article recommends that educators outside of school and at school improve the rational thinking skills of adolescents through various awareness education.

Carefulness

Whereas curiosity is the central intellectual virtue that motivates us to seek truth, knowledge, and understanding, carefulness is the central virtue that repels us from falsehood and irrational belief. This chapter explores the nature of carefulness. It begins with a series of problems designed to test the reader’s statistical reasoning skills, as a way to underscore the importance of carefulness. It then gives an account of the virtue itself. The virtue of intellectual carefulness lies between extremes of carelessness (a deficient attention to evidence) and scrupulousness (an excess). The chapter argues for the importance of carefulness across a wide range of applications, while resisting the idea that skepticism itself is a virtue. It closes with a suggested routine—the CSQ or Claim, Support, Question routine—designed to foster intellectual carefulness.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Evangelical Story of Disestablishment

This chapter examines Harriet Beecher Stowe’s depiction of the separation of church and state in her regional New England novels, Oldtown Folks and Poganuc People, both set in the early republic. It argues that while Stowe’s evangelical vision of religion led her to praise the purification of religion from politics, her simplified story of disestablishment enables a more complicated intertwining of Christianity with democracy. Drawing on family lore and regional history for both novels, Stowe criticized the New England Federalists and Calvinists of her father Lyman Beecher’s generation for treating religion as a political tool, but she also credited them with safeguarding Christianity from the forces of secularization that she associated with the French Revolution. Her novels thus seek to adapt state religion by depicting sites of intense, irrational belief (Spiritualism in Oldtown Folks, Christmas wonder in Poganuc People) that leaven Federalist and Calvinist rationalism with enchantment for the purpose of democratizing Christianity. Stowe’s historical progress narrative depicts Christianity made more democratic when it is seized from the hands of elites and politicians, yet this shift transforms it into a more powerful tool for regulating society. Strengthening the moral efficacy of religion, Stowe’s vision depicts a weakening of the state and public polity, because in Stowe’s libertarian New England history, democracy of the “people” and the “folk” is reassigned to Christianity in the private sphere.