Counseling effectiveness as a function of counselor social interest.

Examined the relationship between counselor social interest and 3 dimensions of counseling effectiveness. 99 students and 8 counselors at a university counseling center participated, and data were analyzed using a multivariate trend analysis. Measures included the Early Recollection Questionnaire, the Rating Scale of Social Interest Characteristics, and the Counseling Evaluation Inventory. Results show that the counselor's social interest score was significantly related to the client's scores on satisfaction, self-acceptance, and sociability. Experimental support was obtained for one of the major contributions of Adlerian theory, the concept of social interest. Implications of the findings for successful counseling outcomes are discussed. (30 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)     

Effect of counselor technique on Mexican-American and Anglo-American self-disclosure and counselor perception.

A counseling analog study examined the effects of 3 interviewing techniques on 124 Mexican-American and Anglo-American undergraduates' willingness to self-disclose and perception of the counselor. The interviewing techniques manipulated were probing, disclosing, and reflecting. No differences across intervention techniques were found on the total scores of the disclosure questionnaire. Females disclosed less than males on the Body subscale of the disclosure questionnaire, but no ethnic differences in willingness to disclose were found. There were no differences in scores on the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI). Significantly more Ss in the probing than the reflecting condition indicated they would return for a 2nd interview. A positive correlation between willingness to disclose and scores on the BLRI was found. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of counselor self-disclosure: An analogue study.

120 male and 120 female university students viewed a videotaped vignette of a simulated counseling session. Counselor self-disclosure was manipulated so that Ss were presented a counselor exhibiting no disclosure, interpersonal disclosure, or intrapersonal disclosure. Ss rated these counselors across a variety of professional (e.g., competency) and personal (e.g., likability) dimensions. Results reveal that counselors who self-disclose are evaluated significantly more favorably than counselors who do not. There is no evidence that disclosing counselors are viewed as less competent or less mentally healthy as suggested in previous research. The implications of these findings for further research on counselor self-disclosure and for clinical practice are explored. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of client affective self-disclosure and counselor experience on counselor verbal behavior and perceptions.

60 untrained, trained, and professional counselors (average age 20 yrs, 26 yrs, and 38 yrs, respectively) responded to an audio presentation of client affective self-disclosures consisting of either high or low intimacy content. Quality and type of response were measured. Ss then completed a reaction form to assess their clinical impressions of the client. No intimacy effects were found. In contrast, consistent differences for experience occurred. Results indicate that untrained Ss made lower quality responses than either trained or professional Ss with no differences between professionals and counselors-in-training. In terms of response type, untrained Ss relied on direct guidance and silence; trained Ss preferred reflection, and professionals utilized silence, open question, and reflection. When silence as an initial response was removed from consideration, the preferred mode of responding for untrained and trained Ss was strengthened. In contrast, professionals utilized 2 responses (reflection and open question) equally. Finally, the counselor reaction data indicated that untrained Ss had less liking for the client as a person and viewed the client as less motivated to change than trained or professional Ss. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of paradoxical and nonparadoxical self-disclosure on counselor social influence.

Examined the effects of counselor self-disclosure and paradoxical homework directives on Ss' ratings on a 5-item homework directive rating scale and on perceived counselor social influence. It was hypothesized that counselor self-disclosure would reduce potentially negative perceptions of paradoxical directives. 49 female and 40 male undergraduates experiencing problems with test anxiety rated 1 of 4 videotapes of actual counselor–client interaction when a female counselor interviewed a client reporting problems with test anxiety. Results show that paradoxical homework directives were perceived as more tricky, manipulative, and confusing than were nonparadoxical directives but that these perceptions did not affect Ss' perceptions of the counselor's willingness or ability to help or increase feelings of anger toward the counselor. Results also indicate that paradoxical directives were not damaging to perceptions of counselor social influence and the counselor self-disclosure did not affect perceptions of counselor social influence. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision quality as a measure of visual display effectiveness.

A new gaming technique was employed in an attempt to evaluate more accurately the effectiveness of visual displays. 18 male university students acted as traffic managers for a hypothetical trucking concern. Trucking information was presented in map-plus-overlay displays, and Ss manipulated trucks, drivers, and loads within the framework of the economic rules governing the trucking operation. A computer program was written which determined the profit in dollars of each S's performance. 3 independent variables—use of color, fact density, and compression (ratio of symbols to facts)—were used in this repeated measures design. Analysis of variance indicated that profit was a positive function of increasing fact density (p     

Differential effects of counselor self-disclosure, self-involving statements, and interpretation.

After viewing a 20-min videotape of a simulated counseling session, 217 college students rated the counselor on expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and on their willingness to see that particular counselor for a personal problem. The session ended with the counselor either summarizing the session, disclosing a past or a present personal problem, making self-involving statements, or offering dynamic interpretations. Results show that present self-disclosure, past self-disclosure, and self-involving statements were not viewed as significantly different from each other and were viewed as significantly more attractive than the summary and dynamic interpretation. There were no significant differences for expertness or trustworthiness. ANOVA showed that the raters were most willing to see the counselor when he ended the session with interpretations and least willing to see him when he ended with summary sessions. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of counselor self-disclosure statements on perception of the counselor and willingness to disclose: A cross-cultural study.

Mexican and American undergraduates watched simulated interviews in which the counselor engaged in one of three forms of self-disclosure (SD) or else no SD. Although all subjects indicated that they would be most willing to self disclose to the counselor who did not personally engage in SD, Mexicans and Americans differed in how they perceived the counselors. Mexicans rated the counselor who did not engage in SD as being more trustworthy and expert than the others; Americans had no clear preference. For Mexican-American clients treated in this country, counselors may need to maintain a degree of formality that is unnecessary with American clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of a measure of assertiveness.

Presents validity data for the College Self-Expression Scale (CSES), a measure of assertiveness for college students. Data were obtained from 3 samples of undergraduates: (a) 28 male and 47 female dormitory residents; (b) 18 male mathematics majors, 45 male engineering majors, 24 male student legislators, 45 female child development and family relations majors, and 8 female student legislators; and (c) 29 students who sought personal adjustment counseling, 35 who sought vocational counseling, and 32 noncounseled students. The correlation between residence hall counselor ratings and self-ratings of assertiveness was .33. Significant differences were found between self-ratings of assertiveness of student legislators and dormitory groups, but not between dormitory males and engineering and math students. It is not clear whether the CSES does not detect differences among student groups or whether there were no differences between the groups on assertiveness; however, the results indicate the utility of the CSES as a measure of assertiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of the Luria-Nebraska Intellectual Processes Scale as a measure of adult intelligence.

Luria-Nebraska Intellectual Processes Scale (IPS) scores were correlated with the 3 WAIS IQs of 33 right-handed psychiatric patients (mean age 41 yrs), and regression equations were computed to obtain estimated Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Full Scale IQ using the IPS as the predictor variable. Mean differences between estimated IQs and the WAIS IQs were nonsignificant. There was high agreement with respect to the classification into normal vs subnormal levels of intelligence. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loneliness, self-disclosure, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Examined the relationship between interpersonal intimacy and measures of loneliness, social skills, and social activity. 150 unmarried female undergraduates were administered the Self-Disclosure Situations Survey; University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale; Social Introversion scale of the MMPI; and an activity questionnaire. Results reveal that dispositional level of self-disclosure was inversely related to loneliness and interacted with disclosure flexibility: Appropriate medium disclosure across situations was associated with lower levels of loneliness than was inappropriate disclosure. Peer and observer ratings of social skills were positively related to dispositional disclosure but not to disclosure flexibility or level of loneliness. Among lonely Ss there was a trend for disclosure flexibility to be associated with different levels of social activity. Results suggest that lonely individuals have difficulty appropriately revealing personal information in new relationships and nonstructured social situations. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative effectiveness of six counselor verbal responses.

Examined the effect of 6 counselor verbal responses on clients' verbal behavior and on their perceptions of counselors. The verbal responses were affect, coontent, influencing, advice, open question, and closed question responses. 90 female undergraduates were randomly assigned to 1 of the 6 treatments. Each participant played the role of client in a simulated helping interaction, and afterwards, they completed the Counselor Rating Form. Affect responses were found to be the most desirable from both the counselors' and clients' perspectives, and closed questions were least desirable. Content responses and open questions were also highly effective in eliciting desirable client behavior. Advice responses were rated highly by clients but were not effective in eliciting desirable client behavior. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of the Wonderlic Personnel Test as a brief IQ measure in psychiatric patients.

100 male psychiatric inpatient referrals (mean age 41.18 yrs) for psychological testing were administered the Wonderlic Personnel Test and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) in a counterbalanced order. In this clinical context, the Wonderlic proved not to be an acceptable alternative to the WAIS—R. The tests correlated only moderately (.75), differed in mean IQ level, and agreed in IQ classification in only 40% of the cases. Efforts to improve these results by devising new IQ correction factors resulted in only slight improvements. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal attraction and direct–indirect supervisor influence as predictors of counselor trainee effectiveness.

Examined the process of supervision as a sample of the social influence model by assessing the effect of counselor trainees' (CTs) interpersonal attraction to their supervisors (SUs) and the SU's style of influence as determinants of CT effectiveness. An experimental design was used, with 3 measures of the dependent variable CT effectiveness: clients' and SUs' perceptions of client outcome and SUs' perceptions of CT effectiveness on the Counselor Evaluation Rating Scale. Results of statistical analyses show that CTs who were attracted to their SUs were rated as more effective by SUs on 2 measures, although attraction was not related to clients' perceptions of outcome. A direct style of supervision was related to CT effectiveness, but on only 1 of 3 measures of the dependent variable. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A questionnaire measure of achievement motivation.

Conducted 3 studies with 125, 67, and 118 male undergraduates to investigate the possibility of constructing a new questionnaire to measure the achievement motive. Study I started with an initial item pool whose content ranged over 10 aspects thought to be characteristic of an individual who is highly motivated to achieve. Items embodying all except 1 aspect were included in the scale resulting from an item analysis. Study II investigated correlations between need achievement (n Ach) and performance in a neutral and an achievement-oriented condition. Only in the latter were significant correlations found. In Study III, 2 educational programs were compared with regard to their motivational implications. In an unstructured program, a high correlation was found between n Ach and performance, while there was no significant correlation in a structured program. The importance of a theoretical approach stressing relevant situational cues is discussed. (34 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in counselor response as a function of experience.

The responses of 67 counselors to 21 widely varying client statements were rated on eight dimensions (dominance, approach–avoidance, focus on affect, immediacy, breadth vs. specificity, meeting client's demands, verbosity, and confrontation). The counselors were divided into three experience levels (beginning students [n?=?24], advanced students [n?=?23], and doctoral level professionals [n?=?20]), and their responses were compared. We hypothesized that student counselors would evidence different amounts of these variables than would the doctoral counselors. This hypothesis was supported on the dimensions of dominance, immediacy, meeting client's demands, verbosity, and confrontation. It was also hypothesized that response flexibility would differ across the experience levels. On the dimensions of dominance, meeting client demands, and confrontation, doctoral counselors were more flexible than were advanced student counselors. The results indicate that students focus on learning and honing the use of certain counseling skills. In the process of doing this, they tend to apply them in a rigid manner. Doctoral counselors appear more able to apply their skills flexibly depending on the situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)