Effects of counselor disability status on disabled subjects' perceptions of counselor attractiveness and expertness.

Examined the influence of client–counselor group membership similarity, counselor reputational cues, and counselor attending behavior on disabled Ss' perceptions of counselor's attractiveness and expertness. 18–53 yr old physically disabled Ss viewed a series of vignettes portraying a counselor–client interaction. After viewing each vignette, Ss rated counselor expertness and attractiveness on subscales of the Counselor Rating Form. No main effect was found for group membership similarity or expertness on either ratings of attractiveness or expertness. However, a significant main effect was found for Counselor Attending Behavior on ratings of expertness and attractiveness. In addition, a significant 2-way interaction between Counselor Attending Behavior and Counselor Disability Status was found for both ratings. Results do not support the belief that client–counselor group membership similarity favorably influences client perceptions of counselor expertness or attractiveness. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)