Belief Systems (DAS)
Directions:
After each of the thirty-five attitudes, put a check in the column that represents your estimate of how you think
most of the time. Be sure to choose the answer that best represents the way you think. Because everyone is
different there is no “right” or “wrong” answer to any statement.
Agree Agree Disagree Disagree
Attitude Strongly Slightly Neutral Slightly Very
Much
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
1. Criticism will obviously upset the
person who receives the criticism.
2. It is best to give up my own interests
in order to please other people.
3. I need other people’s approval in
order to be happy.
4. If someone important to me expects
me to do something, then I really
should do it.
5. My value as a person depends greatly
on what others think of me.
6. I cannot find happiness without being
loved by another person.
7. If others dislike you, you are bound to
be less happy.
8. If people whom I care about reject
me, it means there is something
wrong with me.
9. If a person I love does not love me, it
means I am unlovable.
10. Being isolated from others is bound
to lead to unhappiness.
11. If I am to be a worthwhile person, I
must be truly outstanding in at least
one major respect.
Agree Agree Disagree Disagree
Attitude Strongly Slightly Neutral Slightly Very
Much
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
12. I must be a useful, productive,
creative person or life has no
purpose.
13. People who have good ideas are
more worthy than those who do not.
14. If I do not do as well as other people,
it means I am inferior.
15. If I fail at my work, then I am a failure
as a person.
16. If you cannot do something well,
there is little point in doing it at all.
17. It is shameful for a person to display
his weaknesses.
18. A person should try to be the best at
everything he undertakes.
19. I should be upset if I make a mistake.
20. If I don’t set the highest standards for
myself, I am likely to end up a
second-rate person.
21. If I strongly believe I deserve
something, I have reason to expect
that I should get it.
22. It is necessary to become frustrated if
you find obstacles to getting what
you want.
23. If I put other people’s needs before
my own, they should help me when I
need something from them.
24. If I am good husband (or wife), then
my spouse is bound to love me.
25. If I do nice things for someone, I can
anticipate that they will respect me
and treat me just as well as I treat
them.
Agree Agree Disagree Disagree
Attitude Strongly Slightly Neutral Slightly Very
Much
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
26. I should assume responsibility for
how people feel and behave if they
are close to me.
27. If I criticize the way someone does
something and they become angry or
depressed, this means I have upset
them.
28. To be a good, worthwhile, moral
person, I must try to help everyone
who needs it.
29. If a child is having emotional or
behavioral difficulties, this shows that
the child’s parents have failed in
some important respect.
30. I should be able to please everybody.
31. I cannot expect to control how I feel
when something bad happens.
32. There is no point in trying to change
upsetting emotions because they are
a valid and inevitable part of daily
living.
33. My moods are primarily created by
factors that are largely beyond my
control, such as the past, or body
chemistry, or hormone cycles, or
biorhythms, or chance, or fate.
34. My happiness is largely dependent on
what happens to me.
35. People who have the marks of
success (good looks, social status,
wealth, or fame) are bound to be
happier than those who do not.
*This measurement is located in Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, by Dr. David Burns.
The measurement was created by Dr. Arlene Weissman.
Directions:
Add up the scores in groups of five according to the table below. Put the total scores for each section in the
“Total Scores” column.
Total
Value System Attitudes
Scores
I. Approval 1 through 5
II. Love 6 through 10
III. Achievement 11 through 15
IV. Perfectionism 16 through 20
V. Entitlement 21 through 25
VI. Omnipotence 26 through 30
VII. Autonomy 31 through 35
Take the individual scores from the “Total Score” column in the table above and plot them on the graph below.
Then connect the dots.
Perfectionism
Achievement
Entitlement
Omnipotenc
Autonomy
Approval
Love
10
8
Psychological
Strengths
-2
Vulnerabilities
Emotional
-4
-6
-8
-10
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII.
