Subjects’ Religious Orientation, Counselor'S Orientation and Skill, and Expectations for Counseling

Abstract

The present study is a partial replication of Pecnik and Epperson's (1985a) study of expectations for Christian counseling versus counseling of an unspecified orientation, with the additional aim of clarifying the possible impact of counselor skill and social desirability upon these expectations. Undergraduate psychology students read one of four profiles of a counselor: Christian orientation, high skill; Christian orientation, unspecified skill; unspecified orientation, high skill; unspecified orientation, unspecified skill. These subjects, designated as Christian and non-Christian, rated the counselor profile on 19 variables related to counseling. In comparison to non-Christians, Christian subjects in general give higher ratings to the counselor regardless of the counselor's religious orientation. Non-Christian subjects rated the high skill counselor lower on several expectancy scales than Christian subjects did. No support was lent to the contentions that counselors with a Christian orientation are viewed as less expert than counselors in general or that social desirability can account for Christians’ higher expectations for counseling. Instead Christians may view counseling more positively.