Empathy: Its effect on how counsellors are perceived

The importance of sex of counsellor, ethnicity, empathy and client-counsellor sex-pairings on clients' perceptions of the counsellor was investigated. 96 students were asked to rate black or white, male or female, and empathic or non-empathic counsellors, on attractiveness, expertness and trustworthiness. Contrary to previous research, sex of the counsellor, and sex of student-counsellor pairings, had no significant effect on counsellor ratings. Ethnicity of counsellor - which has been largely ignored in research until recently - was found to be a highly signifcant factor in students' ratings of the counsellor: black counsellors were rated significantly higher than white counsellors on attractiveness, expertness and trustworthiness. The importance of empathy as a requisite for the counselling process was supported: counsellors were rated higher on all three variables if they used an empathic approach. There were no interaction effects between the variables.     

Absolute Versus Tentative Interpretations: Mediating Effects of Client Locus of Control

An analog design was used to investigate the mediating effects of client locus of control (i.e., an internal focus or external focus) on perceptions of counselor style of interpreting events (i.e., absolute or tentative interpretations) on measures of perceived session depth and smoothness, and perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. One hundred and thirty-four undergraduate college students, crossed on level of locus of control, were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, and then completed measures of perceived session depth and smoothness, as well as perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Results indicated a significant interaction effect on perceived counselor trustworthiness. Implications for college counselors are provided.     

Ratings of counselor expertness,attractiveness, and trustworthiness as a function of counselor sex role and subject feminist orientation

Sex Roles - This study investigated the effect of sex role-incongruent behavior upon evaluations of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness, the extent to which these three...     

Unraveling subjects' perceptions of paraprofessionals and professionals: a pilot study

This study examined 75 undergraduate women's perceptions of paraprofessional and professional therapists in an analogy study. The data indicated subjects were more willing to seek treatment from paraprofessional than professional therapists; no differences were found in predicted success of treatment. Subjects' perceptions of paraprofessional and professional expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were also examined; the findings were nonsignificant.     

Effects of Counselor Disability and Reputation on Client Perceptions During a Career Counseling Session

This study examined the effects of three counselor influence factors—expertness, trustworthiness, and attractiveness—on participants' impressions of a counselor during a counseling analogue situation. Using a 2 (counselor disability) x 2 (level of training) factorial design, no significant differences were found with respect to counselor social influence. These results are interpreted relative to the literature on perceptions of counselors with physical disabilities.     

Impressions of psychotherapists' offices

For counseling settings, research suggests that softness, personalization, and order might affect the experience and the perceived expertness, trustworthiness, and social attractiveness of the therapist. This article discusses exploratory studies on college students' perception of the counseling office environment and whether the likely client experience was associated with the softness/personalization and order of the office. As stimuli, the studies used 30 color photographs of psychotherapists' offices viewed from the client's perspective. After obtaining ratings of the characteristics of each office, we obtained ratings from different groups of students of the quality of care and comfort expected in each office (Study 1) and how qualified, bold, and friendly the therapist in the office would be (Study 2). Additional studies examined the likelihood of choosing a therapist based on the office, and the first thought or feeling that came to mind about the office, the therapist, and the patient experience. There were strong correlations in response between groups (by whether they had experienced therapy; their level in school; their gender; and their major, location, and school size). The quality of care, comfort, therapist boldness, qualifications of the therapist, and the likelihood that one would choose a therapist based on the office improved with increases in the office's softness/personalization and order. Friendliness improved with increases in softness/personalization. The office choices, open-ended responses, and reported reasons for the ratings confirmed the importance of softness (comfort) and order. Research should test longer term exposure and behavior.     

Narrative and Propositional Reasoning in an Instructional Context

This study examined the influence of narrative and propositional reasoning in a classroom context. Students viewed 1 of 4 videotaped instructional simulations that varied the controversial issue presented by the teacher and ways of reasoning about it. After viewing a videotape, students rated the expertness, trustworthiness, and attractiveness of the teacher, and the effectiveness of instruction. They rated the teacher as more attractive and the presentation more effective when he used a narrative rather than a propositional approach.     

Contributing Factors to Early Premature Termination at a College Counseling Center

The authors investigated the relationships between clients' early premature termination of counseling and ratings of their counselors' expertness, trustworthiness, and attractiveness and the extent to which clients believed that they were understood by their counselors. A follow-up survey was conducted to assess the clients' reasons for terminating prematurely. Participants were 148 students who sought individual counseling at a university counseling center. The two groups did not differ on the variables investigated. Most of the participants who terminated prematurely reported that they did so because they did not have time for further sessions, did not need further sessions, or forgot their appointments.     

A Comparison of Feminist and Nonfeminist Women's and Men's Reactions to Nonsexist and Feminist Counseling: A Replication and Extension

In Study 1 the authors examined the reactions of 159 feminist and nonfeminist college women to videotaped versions of nonsexist-humanistic, liberal feminist, and radical feminist approaches to counseling. College women rated all counselors similarly on the dimensions of attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness and on other measures of counselor preference. Feminist counselors, however, were rated as more likely than were nonsexist counselors to pursue various feminist goals. In Study 2 the authors used the same methods to examine the reactions of 123 men to nonsexist, liberal, and radical feminist counselors. In general, men's responses were similar to those of women.     

Effects of profanity,touch, and sex of the counselor on perceptions of the counselor and behavioral compliance: Implications for rational-emotive therapists

The present study investigated the effects of profanity, touch, and sex of the counselor on perceptions of the counselor and on behavioral compliance. Ninety six undergraduate psychology students attended a self help presentation on principles of mental health, according to rational-emotive theory. At the end of each presentation the counselor recommended that the subject pick up a book request card (initial compliance) and mail it away (delayed compliance) in order to receive a free copy ofA New Guide To Rational Living. The subjects were also asked to rate their preceptions of the counselor on the dimensions of expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. The results indicated that the use of profanity led to significantly lower perceptions of trustworthiness and a significantly lower level of delayed compliance. Female counselors were rated as more expert, attractive, and trustworthy as compared with male counselors. There was no effect of touch on any of the dependent measures. Implications of these findings for the rational emotive therapist are discussed.This study is based upon a doctoral dissertation completed by the first author, under the direction of the second author.We would like to thank Jean Cirillo who prepared an initial version of the rational emotive, mental health lecture used in this study.Mindy Phillips Ph.D. is a school psychologist in the Farmingdale, N.Y. public schools. She completed her doctoral degree, including her training in RET, at Hofstra University.Howard Kassinove, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Director for Clinical Psychology at Hofstra University in New York. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy and holds the ABPP diploma in Clinical Psychology.     

A study of engagement and premature termination in a university counseling center

Differences between engaged (clients seen for at least two counseling sessions) and nonengaged clients, and between post-engaged premature terminators and clients who terminated with counselor knowledge at a university counseling center were investigated. Five practicum trainees, four professional counselors, and 308 college student clients participated. Professionals had higher rates of engagement and lower rates of premature termination than trainees. Engagement was positively associated with understanding and teaching the client and with longer intake interviews. Premature termination was associated with counselor attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness. These characteristics related to premature termination in opposite directions for professional and practicum counselors. Results are discussed in terms of possible different mechanisms operating at the beginning and end of counseling.     

Facial attractiveness impressions precede trustworthiness inferences: lower detection thresholds and faster decision latencies

Prior research has found a relationship between perceived facial attractiveness and perceived personal trustworthiness. We examined the time course of attractiveness relative to trustworthiness evaluation of emotional and neutral faces. This served to explore whether attractiveness might be used as an easily accessible cue and a quick shortcut for judging trustworthiness. Detection thresholds and judgment latencies as a function of expressive intensity were measured. Significant correlations between attractiveness and trustworthiness consistently held for six emotional expressions at four intensities, and neutral faces. Importantly, perceived attractiveness preceded perceived trustworthiness, with lower detection thresholds and shorter decision latencies. This reveals a time course advantage for attractiveness, and suggests that earlier attractiveness impressions could bias trustworthiness inferences. A heuristic cognitive mechanism is hypothesised to ease processing demands by relying on simple and observable clues (attractiveness) as a substitute for more complex and not easily accessible information (trustworthiness).     

Experiences of Christian clients in secular psychotherapy: a mixed-methods investigation

Eleven Christian former clients were sampled to uncover factors contributing to positive versus negative experiences in secular psychotherapy. The qualitative results indicated that although many participants felt hesitant to discuss their faith due to uncertainty about their therapists' reactions, positive experiences were reportedly facilitated by therapists' openness to understanding clients' faith and giving clients control over how much, when, and how to discuss their religious beliefs and practices. Dissatisfied clients reported that their therapists expressed opposing religious views or avoided discussing religious or spiritual issues. Participants' self-reports of the working alliance and of their therapists' expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were largely consistent with the narrative data, but the alliance scores were somewhat more sensitive to participants' positive versus negative evaluations of their therapy experience. That is, several participants rated their therapists' personal characteristics quite favorably but indicated poor agreement with their therapists on the goals or tasks of treatment.     

A Test of Two Competing Explanations for the Attraction-Enhancing Effects of Counselor Self-Disclosure

The authors tested two theoretical explanations for the attraction-enhancing effects of counselor self-disclosure: the similarity hypothesis and the social exchange hypothesis. A counseling analogue was constructed to discriminate between these two explanations by varying the valence (positive or negative) of the counselor's disclosure and its relevance (relevant or irrelevant) to the client's presenting problem. Dependent variables were perceptions of the counselor's attractiveness, empathy, and level of regard for the client. Results were mixed, supporting the social exchange explanation for empathy and the similarity explanation for level of regard.     

Intensity of smiling and attractiveness as facial signals of trustworthiness in women

Facial attractiveness is associated with a variety of positive social characteristics including trustworthiness. Variations in smiling, such as the appearance of the Duchenne marker and increased intensity of expression, have likewise been linked with positive judgments of trustworthiness. The study investigated the interaction of the effects of models' attractiveness and their smiling intensity on impressions of perceived trustworthiness. Participants rated the attractiveness and expressivity of neutral, low intensity, and high intensity smiling images of 45 women models. These images were also presented to a second group of participants who rated trustworthiness. Repeated measures analysis of covariance of the effects of attractiveness and manipulated smile intensity on trustworthiness indicated a main effect for smile intensity: increased smile intensity was associated with greater trustworthiness. Attractiveness also contributed to rated trustworthiness independently of smiling intensity. Results suggested there is an additional contribution of facial expression in creating social impressions of trustworthiness.     

Neural time course and brain sources of facial attractiveness vs. trustworthiness judgment

Prior research has shown that the more (or less) attractive a face is judged, the more (or less) trustworthy the person is deemed and that some common neural networks are recruited during facial attractiveness and trustworthiness evaluation. To interpret the relationship between attractiveness and trustworthiness (e.g., whether perception of personal trustworthiness may depend on perception of facial attractiveness), we investigated their relative neural processing time course. An event-related potential (ERP) paradigm was used, with localization of brain sources of the scalp neural activity. Face stimuli with a neutral, angry, happy, or surprised expression were presented in an attractiveness judgment, a trustworthiness judgment, or a control (no explicit social judgment) task. Emotional facial expression processing occurred earlier (N170 and EPN, 150-290 ms post-stimulus onset) than attractiveness and trustworthiness processing (P3b, 400-700 ms). Importantly, right-central ERP (C2, C4, C6) differences reflecting discrimination between “yes” (attractive or trustworthy) and “no” (unattractive or untrustworthy) decisions occurred at least 400 ms earlier for attractiveness than for trustworthiness, in the absence of LRP motor preparation differences. Neural source analysis indicated that facial processing brain networks (e.g., LG, FG, and IPL—extending to pSTS), also right-lateralized, were involved in the discrimination time course differences. This suggests that attractiveness impressions precede and might prime trustworthiness inferences and that the neural time course differences reflect truly facial encoding processes.     

Rock Stars in Anti‐Drug‐Abuse Commercials: An Experimental Study of Adolescents' Reactions1

Two studies examined adolescents' perceptions and effectiveness of rock stars in antidrug‐abuse public‐service announcements (PSAs). In the pilot study (N= 24 teenagers), adolescents expected rock musicians, and in particular heavy metal musicians, to be drug users. In our experimental study (N= 78 high school students aged 15 to 16 years), one group was shown 4 PSAs produced by Rock Against Drugs, using rock stars Jon Bon Jovi, Aimee Mann, Gene Simmons, and Belinda Carlysle as spokespersons. The comparison group was shown 4 equivalent PSAs that were created using unknown actors selected for their similarity to the rock stars in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender, but without any reference to rock music. PSA ratings were taken on 4 scales: attractiveness, expertness, trustworthiness, and overall PSA rating. Pretest and posttest measures of drug attitudes supported our hypotheses that countermessages from rock stars denormalize the connection between rock music and drugs, and that adolescents respond more positively to PSAs with rock stars than to PSAs without rock stars.     

Therapeutic relationship and progress in the first six sessions of individual psychotherapy: A panel analysis

The temporal nature of the associations between client-rated therapist empathy and acceptance, and both client-and therapist-assessed therapeutic progress at sessions 2 and 6 were examined pairwise with cross-lagged panel correlatation (CLPC) and linear structural relationships (LISREL) analyses in 37 clients treated in weekly individual sessions of long-term psycoanalytic and person-centred therapy by 37 experienced therapists. Although none of the cross-lagged differences in the three CLPC analyses which met the necessary conditions for interpretation were significant, two of them approached it, suggesting that session 2 client-rated progress was a stronger determinant of session 6 therapist empathy and acceptance than vice versa. However, the LISREL analyses indicated that while session 2 client-rated progress was unrelated to session 6 therapist acceptance, session 2 therapist empathy was negatively correlated with session 6 client-rated progress. furthermore, both session 2 therapist empathy and acceptance were positively associated with session 6 therapist-rated progress, thereby providing some support for the therapeutic role of these two therapist variables as postulated by person-centred theory.     

The perception of attractiveness and trustworthiness in male faces affects hypothetical voting decisions differently in wartime and peacetime scenarios

Facial appearance of candidates has been linked to real election outcomes. Here we extend these findings by examining the contributions of attractiveness and trustworthiness in male faces to perceived votability. We first use real faces to show that attractiveness and trustworthiness are positively and independently related to perceptions of good leadership (rating study). We then show that computer graphic manipulations of attractiveness and trustworthiness influence choice of leader (Experiments 1 and 2). Finally, we show that changing context from wartime to peacetime can affect which face receives the most votes. Attractive faces were relatively more valued for wartime and trustworthy faces relatively more valued for peacetime (Experiments 1 and 2). This pattern suggests that attractiveness, which may indicate health and fitness, is perceived to be a useful attribute in wartime leaders, whereas trustworthiness, which may indicate prosocial traits, is perceived to be more important during peacetime. Our studies highlight the possible role of facial appearance in voting behaviour and the role of attributions of attractiveness and trust. We also show that there may be no general characteristics of faces that make them perceived as the best choice of leader; leaders may be chosen because of characteristics that are perceived as the best for leaders to possess in particular situations.