Perceived counselor power and its effect on counseling outcome for clients with a high level of motivation

Abstract

The general purpose of this study was to investigate Strong's interpersonal influence model. Specifically, the research focus was on client perceptions of the counselor and the effect those perceptions had on outcome for clients with a high level of motivation.The subjects for this study were 44 female and 36 male college students enrolled at Texas A&M University. The 80 subjects randomly selected from a subject pool of 116 had a mean age of 21.38 and ranged from freshman to graduate student. Seventy-two were white, none were black, and eight were of other extractions.A one-way pretest-posttest design with two treatment conditions, high and low perceived counselor power, was utilized. The two groups consisted of 45 and 35 subjects, respectively. Student Counseling Service staff and interns served as the counselors for subjects in the two treatment conditions.The instruments used in this study included the Tennessee Self Concept Scale - Counseling Form (TSCS), the Expectations About Counseling Form - motivation scale (EAC), and the Counselor Rating Form (CRF). The TSCS was used as a pretest and posttest measure of self-concept; the EAC as a measure of motivation; and the CRF as a measure of perceived counselor power.An analysis of variance of the posttest means yielded a significant F value at the .01 level. An analysis of variance of the posttest means using all 116 subjects in the subject pool also yielded a significant F value at the .01 level. The high and low perceived counselor power groups consisted of 63 and 53 subjects, respectively, in second analysis of variance. Therefore, the results of this study empirically support Strong's assertion that interpersonal influence is an important factor effecting counseling/therapy outcome.A true step-wise selection multiple regression analysis using all 116 subjects revealed that of all the predictor variables (expertness, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and motivation) trustworthiness was the best predictor of counseling/therapy outcome (self-concept).