Influence of client race on counselors' assessment of case materials.

Determined whether racial labels contribute to counselors' assessments of clients. 86 graduate students from 6 counseling programs read and assessed 8 intake case summaries. Four summaries were used in the computation of data. For 1 group of counselors, the clients in those 4 summaries were labeled Black, for a 2nd group they were labeled White, and for a 3rd group there were no racial labels. The counselors rated the cases on 11 positive-to-negative dimensions. Analysis of counselors' ratings summed across cases indicated that Black-labeled cases were rated significantly more positive than those labeled White or with no label. A stepwise multiple regression using the no-label condition as a relative reference point indicated that in the final regression equation, Black-labeled cases contributed more to the prediction of counselors' ratings than level of counseling experience, level of physical social distance to minorities, or prior contact with minorities. Counselors seemingly overcompensated to avoid negative professional bias. The reverse biases they demonstrated are discussed as well as the implications for counseling minorities. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)