The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen criterion of reality says that if a physical quantity can be predicted with certainty without disturbing a system, then an element of physical reality corresponds to that quantity.
Let be Pauli measurements on particle . The GHZ state in the question obeys
with certainty. Each local outcome can therefore be predicted by spacelike-separated measurements on the other two particles. The EPR criterion assigns predetermined values satisfying those three equations. Multiplying them and using gives
Quantum theory instead predicts
so a joint measurement has product with certainty. The EPR elements of reality therefore contradict the quantum prediction, which is the GHZ theorem form of Bell theorem.