Multidimensional perception of counselor behavior.

Abstract

This study investigated Strong's prediction of the existence of three dimensions of perceived counselor behavior—expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Films of interviews given by Rogers, Ellis, and Perls were watched by 202 subjects, who rated each counselor on 36 bipolar scales. The ratings were then factor analyzed separately for each counselor. Results supported the existence of the hypothesized dimensions for Rogers and Perls but only two dimensions for Ellis. Implications of these results for counseling and for further research are discussed. The client's perceptions of the counselor's behavior determines to a large extent the effectiveness of the counseling interview. Goldstein, Heller, and Sechrest (1966) emphasized how client perceptions of the therapist might be influenced by counselor behavior indicative of expertness, credibility, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Their recommendations for research in each of these dimensions stemmed from earlier research in social psychology that suggested the importance of a communicator's perceived credibility (expertness and trustworthiness) and attractiveness for inducing attitude change (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953). Since then there has been a considerable amount of research dealing with counselor behavior and its perception by the client. Strong (1968) suggested that counseling represents an interpersonal influence process. Counselors perceived by clients as expert, attractive, and trustworthy should be more influential with clients than counselors not perceived as such. Strong (1970) also discussed the importance of the client's perceptions as part of a process of causal attribution regarding counselor characteristics. Some studies have investigated observers' perceptions of one or more of the three dimensions (Kaul & Schmidt, 1971; Schmidt & Strong, 1970). Other research has studied these