Core Beliefs Inventory (CBI)
Measure how much an event shook your core beliefs
Some events shake your world so much that you start re-examining your most basic beliefs — fairness, control, relationships, the meaning of life. The CBI quantifies this disruption in 9 items. About 4 minutes.
What Is the Core Beliefs Inventory?
The CBI asks one simple question: did something shake up your view of the world? Not what you think about it — just how much you've been rethinking things.
It's based on a well-supported idea from post-traumatic growth research: after a difficult event, people often go through a phase where their basic assumptions get challenged. The CBI measures that disruption directly.
Scale Structure
9 items, one total score. Single-factor structure confirmed across multiple samples.
The 9 items cover different categories of core beliefs:
| Domain | Example |
|---|---|
| Fairness | Belief that things happen fairly |
| Control | Belief that things are controllable |
| Understanding others | Assumptions about why people behave as they do |
| Relationships | Beliefs about relationships |
| Personal strengths/weaknesses | Abilities, strengths, weaknesses |
| Future expectations | What you expect from life ahead |
| Meaning | Sense of purpose or meaning |
| Spirituality/religion | Spiritual or religious convictions |
| Self-worth | Your value as a person |
Scoring
6-point Likert (0–5), all forward-scored. Total range: 0–45.
- 0–15: Minimal disruption — the event didn't lead you to seriously re-examine your core beliefs
- 16–27: Moderate disruption — some reassessment happened, which is where growth often starts
- 28–45: Significant disruption — you've been doing deep rethinking across multiple areas of belief
Psychometric Properties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Internal consistency (α) | .82–.89 across 3 studies |
| Test-retest (r) | .69 (2-month interval) |
| Correlation with PTGI | r = .57 (p < .001) |
| Correlation with IES-R | r = .47 (p < .001) |
References
Cann, A., Calhoun, L. G., Tedeschi, R. G., Kilmer, R. P., Gil-Rivas, V., Vishnevsky, T., & Danhauer, S. C. (2010). The Core Beliefs Inventory: A brief measure of disruption in the assumptive world. *Anxiety, Stress, & Coping*, 23(1), 19–34.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). *Shattered assumptions*. New York: Free Press.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. *Psychological Inquiry*, 15(1), 1–18.
Result Interpretation
After completing the 9 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:
- Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
- Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
- Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available
All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.