Client attributes and the eye of the beholder.

Rated 30 male and female, black and white, 16-57 yr. old psychiatric outpatients on 11 personality attributes which have been considered as related to outcome of therapy. Only 1 of the correlations between the attributes and therapist, client, and Rorschach Psychological Functioning Scale ratings of outcome was significant at the .05 level. Some attributes, however, were related to social class and to severity of impairment-neither of which was related to outcome. Findings suggest that outcome is affected by the attitudes and beliefs of therapists concerning prognosis for lower-class and severely disturbed clients: therapists who believe they can help such clients can often do so. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)