Effects of Counselor's Profanity and Subject's Religiosity on Content Acquisition of a Counseling Lecture and Behavioral Compliance

Abstract

Effects of counselor's profanity and subject's religiosity on acquisition of lecture content and behavioral compliance were investigated. 40 male and 80 female undergraduate students volunteered to attend a lecture about "coping with problems of daily living." They were divided into low, medium, or high religiosity groups based upon scores on Rohrbough and Jessor's Religiosity Scale. Each subject listened to a 15-min, videotaped rational-emotive mental health presentation which included a recommendation that they pick up a card (initial compliance) and send for a free book (delayed compliance) expanding upon the principles discussed in the tape. Half listened to a tape containing 16 profane words and half watched a nonprofane tape. At the end of the tape subjects were given a test on content. Analysis showed that profanity had a negative effect on acquisition of content and on initial compliance. Religiosity had no effect on any of the dependent variables. In contrast to the behavior modeled by some senior clinical practitioners, it was concluded that counselors be wary of using profanity in an initial session. Also, in keeping with the 1989 recommendations of Heppner and Claiborn, the importance of studying behavioral measures in influence studies was stressed.