Conducted three studies to investigate relationship of dualistic and relativistic epistemological thought to empathic understanding in the counseling setting. Relativistic epistemological thought was positively related to aspects of counselor empathy, both in role-played counseling sessions by student counselors and in a written empathy measure.…

Used peer rated measures of Warmth, Understanding and Openness to predict scores on the Kagan Affective Sensitivity Scale-E80 among 66 undergraduates who had participated in interpersonal skills training groups. Results indicated that, as an additively composite index of Therapeutic Talent, they were positively correlated with affective…

Type and comprehensiveness of training were experimentally manipulated (N=128) to study their effects on the reliability and validity of rated counselor empathy. Implications for observer training are discussed. (Author)

College students (N=217) rated counselor characteristics after viewing a simulated counseling session ending with the counselor summarizing the session, disclosing a past personal problem, disclosing a present personal problem, engaging in self-involving statements, or offering dynamic interpretations. Self-disclosure and self-involving statements…

Investigated influences of physical attractiveness and self-disclosures of nonprofessional counselors in initial counseling interviews. College females saw audiotaped interviews in which an unidentified male counselor revealed no self-information or expressed demographic or personal similarity self-disclosures. Nondisclosing, unattractive…

Findings indicate that highly flexible self-disclosers evidence a heightened social perceptiveness. They also evidence significantly greater affective empathy and more accurate perceptions of facilitative responding than do less flexible disclosers. (Author)

Examined results of peer-advising orientation program's impact on participants' perceived and actual involvement within university and explored peer advisers' characteristics. Results suggest that Peer-Advising Program had significant impact on program participants, with student participants demonstrating a greater sense of membership in…

Examined observers' perceptions of counselors using touch in client-counselor interaction. College students (N=248) observed videotaped vignette of simulated counseling interview varied by counselor sex and use of touch. Observer responses to the Perceived Counselor Characteristics Inventory indicated that touch was perceived as conveying sense of…

Examines college students' attitudes about group counseling and creates a reliable instrument for measuring those attitudes. Results indicate that perception of counselor behavior did affect clients' intent to learn more about group counseling but did not affect clients' attitudes about it. Contrary to expectations, clients held neutral to…

Explores the current impact of interpersonal violence on college counseling centers and their clients. Results reveal that client sex, intake counselor sex, intake counselor experience, and client counseling history significantly predicted disclosure of violence experiences. Counselor sex, counselor experience, and client's experience with…

Interpersonal behaviors and factors may facilitate or hinder the ability of one person to exert influence over another. To investigate the impact of counselor smoking behavior and status on potential clients' perceptions of counselor attributes, credibility, and expected helpfulness, 134 female college students viewed one of three vignettes…

There is a growing trend for some counselors to adopt and advertise specific value positions and counseling orientations. To explore potential clients' perceptions of information contained in "traditional" and "feminist" therapists' announcements of services, 52 males and 52 females received one of four announcements…

The research literature on the impact of counselor smoking has yielded unexpected results, indicating no difference in perceptions of smoking or nonsmoking counselors, or more favorable reactions to smoking counselors. To further study clients' perceptions of therapists' smoking, a study was designed which evaluated the impact of a female…

A counseling analogue study was conducted to test the hypothesis that expertness will increase the freedom of an attractive interviewer to use different types of influence. It was predicted that only experts would obtain change with an impersonal appeal, while both experts and inexperts would be successful with a personal appeal. Opinion change…

Clients enter counseling with expectations regarding what counseling will be like. It is widely believed that effectiveness of counseling is closely linked with these expectancies. This study was designed to determine the degree to which college students actually possess such expectations and to investigate the relationship of their expectations…