Worldview Differences Between College Students and Graduate Counseling Trainees

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether graduate students in counseling (n = 95) have different worldviews than undergraduate students (n = 177) who might be potential clients. Students in both groups completed the Scale to Assess World Views (Ibrahim & Kahn, 1987). Results indicated that undergraduate students' worldviews were significantly different from graduate counseling students'. In comparison, undergraduates were more likely than graduate counseling students to focus on the past, to perceive human nature as evil, human relationships as linear‐hierarchical and collateral‐mutual, and nature as powerful. Graduate counseling trainees, on average, were more likely than undergraduates to perceive human nature as good. Men were more likely than women to perceive human nature as evil, human relationships as linear‐hierarchical and individualistic, and nature as controllable. Women, in contrast, preferred the being‐in‐becoming modality. Implications and limited generalizability of these findings for counseling are discussed.