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)