Male and female interviewers who were introduced as expert or nonexpert met individually with undergraduates. Male experts were rated lower in social attractiveness; however, introductions did not affect either perceived expertness or trustworthiness. Reasonably competent therapist behavior may neutralize differential expertness; expertness may…

Studied the effects of counselor status and weight and client gender on initial perceptions of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Student (N=80) response to counselor photographs indicated counselors introduced as having high status were perceived as being more expert and trustworthy. The influence of body weight was…

Investigated the impact of therapist attire and seating arrangement on observers' perceptions of a therapist's attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness. Undergraduates (N=233) listened to an audiotaped interview while viewing a slide presentation. The casual attire/no desk setting elicited the highest attraction ratings, mediated by the…

Investigated preference for counselor race and sex, client sex, likelihood of using the counseling center, and problem type for Native American college students (N=62). Both females and males demonstrated a strong preference for Native American counselors, regardless of problem situation. Likelihood of using the counseling center increased as…

Research has shown that a client's positive views of a counselor enhance commitment to treatment, positive outcome expectancies, and receptivity to counselor influence. To examine the impact of counselor gender and physical attractiveness on perceived counselor effectiveness, 60 college students evaluated male and female counselors on 15 variables…

Analyzed male (N=72) and female (N=64) perceptions of female counselors using three levels of counselor physical attractiveness and four levels of counselor age. Male compared to female participants evaluated unattractive women counselors more positively. Counselor age influenced reactions to counselors. (RC)

Research has suggested that physical attractiveness contributes to subjects' perception of female competency. This finding has generated interest in investigating the effect of physical attractiveness on subjects' perceptions of competency in male and female therapists. Undergraduates (N=192) viewed a 15-minute videotaped session reflecting either…

Sexual feelings between therapist and client have been a source of theoretical controversy since the beginnings of modern psychotherapy. Psychotherapists' (N=72) verbal behavior, affective reactions, and clinical judgments in response to audiotapes of client sexual material were investigated. Therapist gender, client gender, and type of sexual…

Examined the effects of two nonverbal cues, counselor's dress and sex, on high school students' preferences for counselors. Results of the multivariate analysis of variance showed that students' preferences for counselors varied with counselors' sex and dress, the type of concern, and race of the students. (Author)

Investigated client self-disclosure and client perception of counselors. Subjects rated counselors on intelligence and empathy, and while role-playing clients in therapy. Clients disclosed more to male counselors when counselors were high in status or attractiveness. Suggests the effect of counselor gender depends on an interaction with other…

Investigated the effects of counselor gender and drinking status on 93 mandated clients' perceptions of counselor trustworthiness, expertness and attractiveness, and confidence in the counselor. Results revealed no differences between ratings of recovering alcoholic, nonalcoholic, or no-statement counselors on any of the dependent measures.…