Overcoming opposition and resistance: Differential functions of expertness and attractiveness in career counseling.

Hypothesized that counselor expertness would be effective in overcoming opposition to the content of counseling, whereas counselor attractiveness would be effective in overcoming resistance to the counseling process. Two studies of career counseling were conducted: a laboratory analog with 36 vocationally undecided undergraduates and a field study with 45 high school sophomores taking a career planning course. In both studies, counselor role (expert or attractive) was crossed with Ss' initial level of resistance in a repeated measures design. Pre- and postmeasures of Ss' attitudes toward vocational exploration (the content of counseling) and attitudes toward counseling were used to assess change in opposition and resistance, respectively. A behavioral compliance measure of opposition was added in Study 2. Study 1 supported only the resistance hypothesis. Study 2 supported both the opposition and resistance hypotheses and thus demonstrated the differential functioning of expertness and attractiveness. Implications for interpersonal influence research and for the practice of career counseling are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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

Studied the effects of objective evidence of specialized training and expert nonverbal behaviors in a videotaped counseling analog setting. 80 female undergraduates viewed videotapes of a standardized counseling interaction between a professional counselor and a confederate client and then rated the counselor on a credibility checklist. Results of the 2-factor ANOVA indicate that each manipulation significantly affected perceived expertness. The expert nonverbal behavior had the greater effect on Ss' perceptions, and there was no interaction on effects. Implications for counseling practice and research are discussed. (17 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)     

Perceived counselor characteristics, client expectations, and client satisfaction with counseling.

Examined (a) the relationship between perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and client satisfaction; (b) the relationships between specific client expectations on perceived counselor characteristics and client satisfaction; and (c) the effects of actual counselor experience level on perceived counselor characteristics and client satisfaction. The 55 counselors who participated in the study were either beginning or advancing practicum students, doctoral-level interns, or PhD counselors; clients were 72 students who sought help at a university counseling center. Clients completed an Expectations About Counseling (EAC) questionnaire before entering counseling, as well as the Counseling Evaluation Inventory (CEI) and Counselor Rating Form (CRF) after several weeks of counseling. CRF and CEI were correlated, but EAC scores were not strongly related to the CEI or CRF scores. Actual counselor experience level did not differentially affect CEI or CRF scores. Findings are discussed in terms of several variables (e.g., legitimate power, source variables, and client satisfaction) that may differentially affect the influence process over time. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of note-taking on perceived counselor social influence during a career counseling session.

Examined the effects of counselor note-taking behavior on participants' impressions of a counselor during a career counseling session. A total of 140 participants (70 men and 70 women) rated 1 of 2 videotapes designed to credibly simulate a real career counseling interview. Note-taking was the independent variable. Results of this study suggest that whether a counselor is observed in a note-taking or non-note-taking condition has no significant effect on perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, or trustworthiness. However, there was a significantly greater willingness of the participants to see the counselor who refrained from note-taking. Results offer tentative suggestions for those counselors who choose to take notes during a career counseling session. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expertness, similarity, and perceived counselor competence.

Tested the effects of 2 levels of counselor similarity and expertness and 2 types of clients' problems on perceptions of the counselor's competence in an analog study. The basis for client-counselor similarity was age and student status; the basis for expertness was experience and training. Ss were 311 18-27 yr old undergraduates. They were given 1 of 8 biographical sketches of the counselor's background to read; then they heard a segment of a single taped interview. Counselor competence was assessed by evaluations on a 16-item Likert scale. It was hypothesized that suggestions of client-counselor similarity would facilitate perceptions of competence for affiliative problems, whereas suggestions of counselor expertness would facilitate perceptions of competence for academic problems. Suggestions of expertness led to higher evaluations of counselors for both problems. Findings support the importance of counselor credentials in determining clients' initial impressions of counselors. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral cues to counselor expertness.

Two male and 2 female counselors at each of 3 levels of training and experience conducted an initial interview with a female confederate client who presented the same role to all counselors. Videotapes of these interviews were viewed by 120 undergraduates who rated the counselors' expertness, indicated counselor behaviors that contributed to their judgments, and rated their willingness to refer close friends to the observed counselors for various concerns. Only individual counselor performance contributed significantly to rated expertness. Data do not support those of L. D. Schmidt and S. R. Strong (see record 1970-09304-001), which show an inverse relationship between training/experience and rated expertness. Willingness to refer was differentially related to rated expertness, depending on the client concern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal influence process in real-life counseling: Investigating client perceptions, counselor experience level, and counselor power over time.

Examined the interpersonal influence process within an actual counseling context over an average of 8 sessions. Counselors were either beginning or advanced practicum students or doctoral interns (n?=?27); clients were 31 students who sought counseling at a university center. Before and after counseling Ss completed the Counselor Rating Form, the Expectations about Counseling measure, and the Counselor Perceptions Questionnaire. Results indicate that (a) the actual counselor experience level did not affect client perceptions of the counselor; (b) perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness changed over time, but not in the same direction across counselors; (c) different levels of client need did not affect clients' perceptions of counselor characteristics; and (d) counselors rated as highly attractive indicated they had more therapeutic power over clients than counselors rated as moderately attractive. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of client perceived need and counselor role on clients' behaviors.

Employed a multifactor 2 (high and low need) by 2 (expert and inexpert role) by 2 (interviewers) fixed effects design to evaluate the effects of S perceived need and interviewer role on an S's opinions and behaviors. 90 female undergraduates attended a 20-min counseling analog interview in which they discussed their problem-solving skills. During this time the interviewer attempted to alter Ss' ratings of their problem-solving skills as well as 2 extrainterview behaviors. Following the interview, Ss rated the interviewer on a counselor rating form, responded to 2 problem-solving inventories, and were given the opportunity to engage in 2 self-help activities outside of the interview. The results indicate that the roles were perceived as intended and resulted in the intended opinion changes. Perceived interviewer expertness did influence Ss to engage in certain self-help activities, but the scope of those behaviors was limited. Contrary to earlier postulations, differential S need did not affect interviewer's ability to influence Ss' opinions or behaviors. Additional research is needed to test the theoretical formula regarding counselor power, as well as to explore the range of effects of perceived counselor expertness. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling relationship as a function of counselor's self-confidence.

Studied effects of counselor self-confidence on counseling relationships. 24 high- and 24 low-self-confidence clients were assigned randomly to 1 high-, 1 moderate-, and 1 low-self-confidence counselor and to either individual or group counseling. 3 counseling relationship inventories were administered, 1 at the end of the conclusion of the experiment. Multivariate analysis of variance procedure was applied to the 3 (counselors) * 2 (clients) * 2 (settings) completely randomized factorial design. Results indicate that the degree of perceived counselor's empathy, warmth, genuineness, intimacy, concreteness, expertness, regard, and congruence was linearly related to the level of counselor's self-confidence. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of Counselor Characteristics: Contributions of Counselor Sex, Experience, and Disclosure Level.

Strong proposed that expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness may enhance the counselor's ability to influence clients. In a counseling analogue the present study assessed the effects of counselor sex (male or female), experience (expert or nonexpert), and self-disclosure level (high or low) on perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Results indicated that (a) expert counselors were rated more expert than nonexpert; (b) female experts were rated more expert than female nonexperts, but male experts and nonexperts were not different from one another; (c) high-disclosing counselors were perceived as more attractive than low-disclosing counselors; (d) expert and nonexpert high-disclosing counselors were more attractive than expert low-disclosing counselors; (e) low-disclosing counselors were rated more trustworthy than high-disclosing counselors; and (f) low-disclosing female counselors were rated more trustworthy than high-disclosing female counselors, but male high- and low-disclosing counselors were not different from one another. Additional findings are presented, and implications of the results concerning counselor sex are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of certain counselor behaviors on perceived expertness and attractiveness.

Examined the effects and the relative contribution of 3 counselor behaviors (nonverbal behavior, jargon, and attire) on perceived expertness and attractiveness. In a factorial design, 120 undergraduates observed an interview with a counselor performing in 1 of 8 combinations of responsive or unresponsive nonverbal behavior, professional or layman's jargon, and formal or casual attire. Ss rated the perceived expertness and attractiveness of the counselor using the Counselor Rating Form. ANOVAs revealed that all 3 independent variables significantly affected the 2 rated dimensions. Nonverbal behavior accounted for most of the variance and differentially affected ratings of expertness and attractiveness, while jargon and attire were much inferior in their relative contribution to Ss' perceptions. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multidimensional perception of counselor behavior.

Investigated S. R. Strong's prediction of the existence of 3 dimensions of perceived counselor behavior: expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Films of interviews given by C. Rogers, A. Ellis, and F. Perls were watched by 202 Ss, who rated each counselor on 36 bipolar scales. Ratings were then factor-analyzed separately for each counselor. Results support the existence of the hypothesized dimensions for Rogers and Perls but only 2 dimensions for Ellis. Implications of results for counseling and further research are discussed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Effects of diplomas, awards, and counselor sex on perceived expertness.

Employed a 2 * 2 factorial design in a counseling-analog investigation to evaluate the effects of environmental cues of competence (such as diplomas and awards) and the sex of the counselor on perceived expertness. 64 undergraduates were interviewed and subsequently completed a semantic-differential questionnaire which contained a 6-item scale of perceived expertness. Results indicate that diplomas and awards significantly influenced the S's initial perception of counselor expertness. Contrary to previous research, the sex of the counselor did not influence the initial perceptions of the Ss. It is suggested that further research is needed on the duration of the effects of the diplomas, the sex of the counselor, and the existence of such effects in additional populations and settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Power of nonverbal cues in counseling interactions: Availability, vividness, or salience?

Tested 3 explanations for the differential impact of verbal and nonverbal cues on perceptions of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. These explanations involved cue availability (abundance of nonverbal over verbal cues), vividness (concreteness and imagery-provoking nature of nonverbal cues), and salience—vividness (an interaction between the vividness of the cues and the level of arousal of the perceiver). 45 male and 45 female undergraduates were divided into 6 experimental groups to view tapes of counseling interactions. The tapes included 3 expertness tapes representing 3 levels of verbal/nonverbal cues and 3 attractiveness tapes representing the same 3 levels. The independent variables studied were arousal and number of verbal and nonverbal cues. After viewing both an expertness tape and an attractiveness tape, Ss completed an adjective checklist and an instrument designed to measure dimensions of perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Findings suggest that cue availability is not a compelling explanation for the power of nonverbal communications, that vividness accounts for differential cue effectiveness with certain dependent variables, and that salience is not a prerequisite for the vividness effect to occur. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)