Evaluation of magical thinking: Validation of the Illusory Beliefs Inventory
Abstract
Magical thinking has been related to obsessive-compulsive disorder; yet, little research has examined this construct in other anxiety disorders. The Illusory Beliefs Inventory (IBI) is a recently developed measure of magical thinking. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of this new measure and to determine if magical thinking accounts for pathological worry beyond the well-researched constructs of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and perfectionism. A sample of 502 participants completed an online survey. Confirmatory factor analysis identified a three-factor solution for the IBI, and the measure had good internal consistency (α = .92), test-retest reliability (r = .94) and discriminant validity. Magical thinking, IU, and perfectionism all predicted pathological worry; however, magical thinking accounted for less than 1% of unique variance in worry, suggesting that it is not strongly related to worry. Further investigation regarding the validity and clinical utility of the IBI is required.
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People may feel anxious in uncertain situations and may struggle to tolerate this anxiety, attempting to manage it with supernatural beliefs; magical thinking can be one of their coping mechanisms.
“People may feel anxious in uncertain situations and may struggle to tolerate this anxiety, attempting to manage it with supernatural beliefs. At this point, magical thinking can be one of their coping mechanisms.[14]”
From Decision-making styles, magical thinking, and intolerance of uncertainty in opioid use disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
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Yu, M. H. M., Cao, Y., Fung, S. S. Y., Kwan, G. S. Y., Tse, Z. C. K., & Shum, D. H. K. (2025) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2025.102975 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Decision-making styles, magical thinking, and intolerance of uncertainty in opioid use disorder
Danışman, M., & İspir, G. Z. (2024) · Indian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_630_23 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“[14] In particular, substance use could increase uncertainty, such as the uncertainty of finding the substance and the possibility of being caught by the police.”
- Authors
- Shihata, S., Egan, S. J., & Rees, C. S.
- Affiliations
- Curtin University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Egan, Sarah J.
- Venue
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-06-24
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 251-261
- ISSN
- 1650-6073 (ISSN-L)
- 1651-2316
- OpenAlex
- W1964433917
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- magical thinking, pathological worry, intolerance of uncertainty, perfectionism, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychometric validation, factor structure
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Anxiety, Cross-Sectional Studies, Culture, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Personality, Reproducibility of Results, Uncertainty, Young Adult
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