Swarangi Vartak

UID- 218717
REBT Assignment
Movie- 12 Angry Men
1. Adversity
A juror who initially voted guilty is now having reasonable doubts. This is perceived as an
adversity by Juror 3 (the juror in the video) because he believes that the evidence available so
far is sufficient for the boy to be seen as guilty of killing his father. He realises that it is his
vote against everyone else’s but he doesn’t want to budge.
2. A. Distorted Thoughts/ Musterbatory Distortions
Polarised thinking (All or nothing)- I am either really good at convincing people of the boy’s
guilt or a complete idiot or something for not being able to do so. According to this juror, all
the evidence should be sufficient to convince others but the fact that they have reasonable
doubt must imply that I am an idiot!
Overgeneralising- This boy definitely is guilty of murdering his father considering their
relationship was difficult because I too have a strained relationship with my own son. It must
be that all father-child relationships are the same. This juror generalised his own relationship
with his son to that of the boy in question and his father.
Mental filtering- The boy is guilty- the old man heard him, the woman saw him, he had a
knife. That’s it. Doesn’t matter if this evidence is doubtful, I am convinced of his guilt.
Period. (This could also be seen as an instance of jumping to conclusions)
Magnification/Minimisation- the boy was heard yelling at his father. It doesn’t matter if they
had an otherwise calm relationship, it doesn’t matter if this was a rare behaviour from the
boy. He yelled at his father; he most definitely also killed his father (maximising). It is
possible that the old woman didn’t see properly if she wasn’t wearing glasses, it is possible
that the old man didn’t hear properly over the loud sound of the El(train), it is possible the
knife fell out of his pocket, but since none of this can be proven, none of this is true. These
considerations are unimportant, they don’t matter (minimising).
Emotional Reasoning- The juror was already biased towards the case given that he didn’t
have a good relationship with his son. He felt, anger, frustration, disappointment, hate
towards his present situation. Adding on to this were the emotions stemming from other
jurors not seeing the case the way this juror was seeing it. All these emotions just added on to
his rigidity and strengthened his initial opinion further.
Labelling- He labels children in general as ‘rotten kids’ – You work your life out and they
still disrespect you. He also labels the other jury members who have a reasonable doubt as
‘lousy bunch of bleeding hearts’- I am the only one with a tough heart, seeing the case for
what it is, you guys are just soft, too soft. He labels the business of the El and the movies as
‘a phoney deal’ and labels the entire situation as something that has been ‘twisted and
turned.’
Should/must statement- The arguments I have given, must be true. The evidence should be
sufficient to convict the boy. (Discussed ahead in detail)
 B. Behavioural response to the adversity-
- Throws away his wallet after seeing the photograph
- Tears up the photograph
- Looks at what he has done, breaks down and cries into his clenched fist
- Condescendingly points his finger at everyone while raising his voice
- Practically screams out his argument

3. Rigid Beliefs
- I must-
I must always have my way with things.
I must convince everyone with my arguments that the boy is guilty.
I should be entitled to my opinion and shouldn’t have to change it.
I must have the right to my opinion even if it means that I am alone.

- You must-
The other jurors must not disagree with me (this could also be a world must belief-
Nobody should disagree with me).
The jurors must unanimously vote guilty, they must not have a reasonable doubt.
The jurors must not intimidate me (as a world belief- nobody should intimidate me).

- World must-
Children should not disrespect their father and always be grateful.
What people hear and see, must be true (since the old man heard and the woman saw,
they must be right)
People should believe the old man and the woman’s testimony.

4. One of the above rigid beliefs as a full statement including all 4 derivatives-
Must, Label, Itis, Awfulizing
I must convince everyone with my arguments that the boy is guilty and it is disappointing and
frustrating to see them all have a reasonable doubt. I can’t stand them having an opinion
different from mine, I can’t tolerate them disagreeing with me and it is awful that my word
and opinion holds no value. It is awful they can’t see things the way I do.