The problem concerns determining whether healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs can be distinguished. A 150 item Religious Beliefs Inventory (RBI) was developed to assess healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs. In a pilot study, RBI scales were developed and the MMPI-168 was used as the criteria measure. Fifteen of the 23 RBI scales yielded an average reliability of .79 and an average validity of .48 for 95 undergraduate university subjects. The present study seeks to cross-validate the results of the pilot study with a church-active sample. Six judges/pastors evaluated RBI items as healthy or unhealthy and their responses were used to formulate and validate the RBI scoring system. For the 196 church-active subjects, Hypothesis 1 is supported by eleven of the seventeen significant predicted correlations between the RBI and the validity criteria MMPI- 168, ranging from .14 to .28 with an average of .20. The average reliability of 15 RBI scales is .71. Hypothesis 2 is supported by five of eight significant predicted positive correlations between the RBI and the Rehfisch RI (Rigidity) scale, ranging from .18 to .25 with an average of .17. One or more of the following explanations may account for the absence of higher and more numerous significant correlations for support for Hypotheses 1 and 2 found in the present study: (a) the distribution of scores on 18 of 24 RBI scales are skewed to the right; (b) there are significant differences between characteristics of the pilot study undergraduate sample and the church-active sample participating in the present study; (c) there is a need to assess an individual's degree of involvement in his religious beliefs; (d) psychometric improvements are needed in the RBI; and (e) limitations of the validity criteria. In conclusion, although the RBI is not ready for clinical use, fifteen of the RBI scales appear to hold promise and deserve further revision and research.

Forty right-handed women, half who had been classified as depressed, the other half nondepressed, participated in a tachistoscopic study of the influence of depression on the cerebral hemispheric processing of Ekman and Friesen’s (1976) happy, sad, and neutral emotional faces. A dynamometer was also used as a standardized measure of hemispheric motor functioning such as hand grip strength, perseveration, and fatigue. Results indicated that the depressed women were characterized by elevated levels of both depression and anxiety, suggestive of an agitated, depressive state with heightened arousal. Further, depressed as compared to nondepressed women displayed significantly faster reaction times to sad faces presented their right visual fields and happy faces presented their left visual fields. For the dynamometer data, primary findings indicated that depressed women displayed significantly less perseveration at the left hand as compared to nondepressed women. There was also a trend for depressed as opposed to nondepressed women to show less perseveration at the right hand. These findings from both the tachistoscope and dynamometer data are suggestive of differential arousal of both the left and right cerebral hemispheres and are discussed in light of arousal theory. / Master of Science

Psychology in South Africa is facing a dire need for valid and reliable mental health instruments for all its citizenry. There presently exists a reliance on instruments of foreign origin. Very often such instruments are used without their psychometric properties having been tested in the local setting. The present study employed a multi-stage process for translating the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) into Zulu. A simplified English version of the GHQ and the translated Zulu version were subsequently administered to a sample of two hundred and fifty seven (257) bilingual high school students. The data from this sample was used to assess the equivalency between the Zulu version and the English version. At the scale level, both versions of the GHQ showed adequate internal consistency and reliability. Item analysis revealed certain differences between the two versions. Possible explanations regarding semantic differences are discussed. Substantial overlap between the factor solutions of the two versions was found. These factor solutions were found to correspond well with those recorded in the literature. The present sample scored much higher on the GHQ than foreign samples do. Suggestions for raising the cutting scores for South African samples are made. On the whole, the Zulu version displayed evidence of reasonable equivalence to the English version. A comprehensive research programme for the GHQ in South Africa is presented. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.