Intensionality in the irrational beliefs-intellectual performance relationship.

This study tested the hypothesis that certain semantic processes may be responsible for the previously observed inverse relationship between the endorsement of Ellis's irrational beliefs and measures of intellectual performance. The IS of Identity Scale, a measure of intensional thinking, was administered to 134 male and female entering college freshmen, along with a list of Ellis's irrational beliefs, the Developmental Test of Reading Skills, and locally constructed tests of writing and mathematics. A multiple-regression analysis showed that irrationality uniquely accounted for 13% of reading variance (p less than .001) and none of the variance in the other variables. Intensionality was not associated uniquely with any of the variables and seemingly played no part in the irrationality-intellectual performance relationship.