Perceptions of counselor qualities: Impact of subjects' self-concepts, counselor gender, and counselor introductions.

Examined the extent to which a counselor quality (reputed expertise) and a client quality (self-concept) were interactive with counselor gender and with each other as determinants of Ss' perceptions of the counselor. 105 male undergraduates were split into high- or low-self-concept groups according to their scores on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and listened to an audiotape of a male or female counselor who was introduced as an expert counselor or a nonexpert counselor or who was given no introduction. Ss then used the Counselor Rating Form to rate the counselor. Consistent with previous research, the expertness manipulation affected ratings of the counselor, whereas counselor gender alone did not. No interaction between counselor gender and expertness introduction was obtained, although one interaction (for attractiveness) was obtained for S self-concept by expertness introduction. Three-way interactions were obtained for perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. These results suggest that although S self-concept alone does not determine perceptions of the counselor, it is one recipient characteristic that interacts with the counselor characteristics of gender and ascribed expertise. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender salient attribute?×?treatment interaction effects on ratings of two analogue counselors.

One-hundred one women and 109 men participated in a test of M. N. Russell's (1984) assertion that exploring gender themes in counseling is most therapeutic when the client also considers gender issues relevant for understanding personal experience. This matching hypothesis was examined with an Attribute?×?Treatment interaction design. Scores on the Real Events Salience of Gender Scale (RESOG) operationalized the attribute variable of perceptions of gender salience. The treatment variable was an analogue counselor making either high gender salience (HiGS) or low gender salience (LoGS) interventions. It was hypothesized that the HiGS counselor would be given higher evaluations by participants who reported more gender salient transactions. Results indicated small interaction effects, whereby (a) ratings on the Attractiveness subscale of the Counselor Rating Form-Short of the HiGS counselor increased and the same ratings of the LoGS counselor decreased as perceived gender typicality increased, and (b) willingness to see the HiGS counselor increased and willingness to see the LoGS counselor decreased as the perceived unfavorability of a same-sex transaction increased. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor and client sex pairing: The effects of counseling problem and counselor sex role orientation.

291 male and 246 female undergraduates viewed a videotape of a client of the same sex with either a vocational or personal social problem, counseled by either a masculine or feminine male or female counselor. Three times during the videotape, Ss predicted the client's next response by selecting 1 of 4 affective self-reference statements. At the conclusion of the videotapes, Ss rated the counselors using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) and the Counselor Rating Form (CRF). Results indicate significant main effects and interactions of counselor sex and sex role and client sex and presenting problem for the BLRI, the CRF, and S affective self-references. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clients' perception of the counselor: The influence of counselor introduction and behavior.

Investigated the relative influence of counselor behavior (as defined by levels of the facilitative core conditions) and of counselor status (as indicated in an introduction) on Ss' perceptions of the counselor. 120 undergraduates viewed a videotaped segment of 1 of 2 staged interviews after receiving an introduction to a high-status or low-status counselor or no introduction at all. Ss then rated their perceptions of the counselor on 3 instruments, which contained 6 scorable factors: Counselor Warmth, Counselor Competence, Counseling Climate, Counselor Comfort, Client Satisfaction, and General Counselor Appeal. Counselor behavior produced a main effect on each of the 6 dependent measures, while counselor introduction produced a main effect on only Counselor Competence and Counselor Comfort. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual preference similarity, attitude similarity, and perceived counseling credibility and attractiveness.

84 17–66 yr old homosexual men identified as holding either an activist or a nonactivist stance on gay advocacy rated the counselor's credibility and attractiveness on the Counselor Rating Form after listening to an audiotape-recorded segment of a counseling interview between a male counselor and a male client expressing sexual preference concerns. Ss heard the same counseling interaction except for counselor responses to 2 client questions, one related to counselor sexual preference and one related to counselor stance on gay advocacy. The counselor was rated more Expert, Trustworthy, and Attractive when he stated a sexual preference for men than when he stated a sexual preference for women or refrained from stating a sexual preference. Attractiveness ratings were a function of attitude similarity between the counselor portrayed on the tape recording and Ss in the study. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition of sex-biased counseling interactions.

Investigated the ability of 75 graduate counselor trainees to recognize sex bias in client–counselor interactions and examined how 2 different sets of instructions given to each S influenced awareness of sex bias and perceptions of a counselor. Ss rated 2 videotaped interactions on the Counselor Rating Form and a supervisory issues inventory before or after the provision of information on sex bias in therapy. MANOVA revealed significant main effects due to Graduate Training, Sex of S, and Uninformed vs Informed Attention. Female Ss rated the female counselor as being significantly more attractive and trustworthy than did the male Ss. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client preferences and anticipations about counselor self-disclosure.

120 female undergraduates were preselected according to high or low preference for counselor disclosure. Ss were then given 1 of 2 forms of instructions about the likelihood of counselors using self-disclosure (high or low anticipation). Finally, Ss viewed a brief videotape of a counseling session in which counselor disclosure was either present or absent. As predicted, Ss gave higher ratings on the Counselor Rating Form to self-disclosing counselors than to nondisclosing ones. Ss whose high preferences and anticipations were confirmed gave higher ratings to disclosing counselors. For Ss who had low preference and anticipation, disconfirmation led to higher ratings of disclosing counselors. Implications for distinguishing between preference and anticipation in research on expectancy are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of ethnic, sex, and attitude similarity on counselor credibility.

Surveyed 63 male and 64 female Mexican-American community college students to determine their attitude toward acculturation. Ss were then randomly assigned to receive written material describing the sex, ethnicity, and attitude toward acculturation of a counselor they subsequently heard in a tape-recorded excerpt of a counseling session. After reading the written introduction and listening to the counseling excerpt, Ss rated the counselor's credibility and attractiveness on the Counselor-Effectiveness Rating Scale (CERS). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between attitude similarity and the repeated factor (CERS subscales). Post hoc analyses indicated that Ss' ratings of their willingness to see the counselor were significantly lower than other credibility ratings for those Ss who were exposed to a counselor with a dissimilar attitude. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of objective evidence of expertness, nonverbal behavior, and subject sex on client-perceived expertness.

The effects of objective evidence of specialized training, expert nonverbal behaviors, and S sex were studied in a counseling analog setting. 80 undergraduates viewed videotapes of a standardized counseling interaction between a confederate counselor and client. Ss then rated the counselor on a credibility checklist. The results of a 2?×?2?×?2 ANOVA indicate that both objective evidence and nonverbal behaviors significantly affected perceived expertness and that there was no difference in the credibility ratings of the counselor between male and female Ss. There were mixed interactions from the data. Objective evidence and sex did interact significantly, as did objective evidence and nonverbal behavior. The interaction of sex and nonverbal behavior and of sex, objective evidence, and nonverbal behavior did not achieve significance. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of self-disclosing versus self-involving counselor statements across counselor–client gender pairings.

60 male and 60 female undergraduates listened to 1 of 8 audiotaped recordings of a counseling interview between either an experienced male or female counselor and a male client, for male Ss, or a female client, for female Ss. One half of the male and female Ss heard a tape containing counselor self-disclosure statements; the other half heard a tape containing counselor self-involving statements. Ss rated counselors' expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness, and generated written responses to each self-disclosing or self-involving counselor statement. Across all counselor–client gender pairings, self-involving counselors were rated as significantly more expert, attractive, and trustworthy than were self-disclosing counselors. Further, client responses to self-disclosing counselor statements contained significantly more questions about the counselors, were significantly longer responses, and were significantly more likely to be phrased in the past or future rather than in the present tense. Finally, client responses to the self-involving counselor statements contained significantly more client self-referents. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of self-disclosing versus self-involving counselor statements.

Studied 107 female undergraduates who listened to 1 of 2 audiotaped recordings of a counseling interview between an experienced male counselor and a female client. Half of the Ss heard a tape containing counselor self-disclosure (S-D) statements; the other half heard a tape containing counselor self-involving (S-I) statements. Ss rated the counselor's expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness (Counselor Rating Form) and generated written responses to each S-D or S-I counselor statement. The S-I counselor was rated as significantly more expert and trustworthy than was the S-D counselor. Further, Ss' responses to the S-D counselor statements contained significantly more questions about and references to the counselor, whereas responses to S-I counselor statements contained significantly more self-referents. Ss' responses to the S-I counselor were significantly more likely to be phrased in the present, rather than the past or future, tense. Implications for the practice of counseling and for further research on self-disclosure are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling pretreatment and the Elaboration Likelihood Model of attitude change.

Studied the Elaboration Likelihood Model (R. E. Petty et al, 1984) in a counseling context, using 254 undergraduates assessed as highly or less highly ego involved with social skills or career concerns. Ss were exposed to a pretreatment intervention composed of strongly or weakly reasoned arguments by a counselor of high or low credibility promoting participation in a social skills or career counseling group. The resulting factorial design revealed that significantly more favorable attitudes toward counseling occurred as Ss' ego involvement increased and as intervention quality improved. Counselor credibility significantly affected the degree to which Ss' attitudes reflected argument quality differences. It is suggested that, compared with prior research on the model, the counseling context may be one of moderate involvement. Nevertheless, it is contended that the model accounts for the effects that were found. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Breach of confidentiality and perceived trustworthiness of counselors.

200 male undergraduates heard audiotaped counselor–client interactions that culminated in a decision by the counselor to breach or maintain confidentiality. In a control condition no confidentiality manipulation was presented. The degree of seriousness of the client's problem was manipulated in addition to the level of counselor experience, type of presenting problem, and counselor. Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 48 cells defined by a 3 (confidentiality: confidential, nonconfidential or control) by 2 (problem seriousness: highly or moderately serious) by 2 (counselor experience: expert or nonexpert) by 2 (presenting problem: suicide or drug abuse) by 2 (counselor: A or B) between-Ss factorial design. Among other measures Ss rated counselors on trustworthiness on the Counselor Rating Form. A Confidentiality?×?Problem Seriousness Interaction indicated that with highly serious client problems breaching confidentiality was associated with significantly lower trustworthiness ratings compared to all other conditions. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mexican-American acculturation, counselor ethnicity, counseling style, and perceived counselor credibility.

Used a 3?×?2?×?2 factorial design to study the effects of S acculturation (low, medium, or high), counselor ethnicity (Anglo-American or Mexican-American), and counseling style (directive or nondirective) on Mexican-American Ss' perceptions of and willingness to see a counselor. Within acculturation levels, Ss were randomly assigned to view stimulus materials (in which the counselor's ethnicity was varied) and to listen to tape recordings of a simulated counseling session (in which the counseling style was varied). No evidence was found of an acculturation effect for any dependent variable. However, Ss gave higher credibility ratings and were more willing to see a counselor who was Mexican American for personal, academic, and vocational concerns. Also, more positive ratings were given to the directive counseling style than the nondirective counseling style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)