Egalitarianism of Therapist Attitudes Toward ...

Journal of Gender, Culture, and Health, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1996

Egalitarianism of Therapist Attitudes Toward Gender Roles in Marriage and Therapeutic Attraction1 Cindy B. Kamilar,2 Edward J. Murray,3 and Daniel L. Segal4,5

This study examined professional attractiveness of therapists with varying degrees of egalitarianism regarding marital roles. Four written therapist vignettes representing a traditional-egalitarian continuum were presented to 400 male and female undergraduates, who then completed measures of therapist desirability. Therapist gender was not specified. Subject predictor variables expected to influence desirability were gender, ethnicity (Hispanic/Caucasian), feminist attitudes (Attitudes Toward Women Scale-Short Form), and gender-related traits (Personal Attributes Questionnaire-Short Form). The major finding was that therapist attraction increased with increasing egalitarianism of the therapists, leveling off from moderate to very egalitarian therapists. This finding was moderated by gender and feminist attitudes in the obvious direction, that is, more males than females preferred the very traditional therapist and more females than males preferred the very egalitarian therapist. No effect for ethnicity was found. The m:ajor results are opposite those reported in the literature using extreme dichotomies of feminist and traditional attitudes. Results are similar to recent work using a wider range of feminist attitudes, and suggest that this variable can be conceptualized as being on a continuum from less feminist to extremely feminist. The results might also reflect changes in gender role beliefs in modern college students. Suggestions for future work in this area are offered. KEY WORDS: gender roles; marriage; therapist attitudes; feminism; therapeutic attraction. 1This article is based on the doctoral dissertation conducted at the University of Miami by Cindy B. Kamilar under the supervision of Edward J. Murray. 2Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida (now at Health Care Management Division of Broward County Board of Commissioners, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida). 3Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. 4Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 5 Correspondence should be directed to Daniel L. Segal, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, P.O. Box 7150, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933-7150. 5 1087-3201/96/0300-0005$09.50/0 © 1996 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Kamilar, Murray, and Segal

INTRODUCTION Attitudes and values held by both clients and therapists play an im portant role in therapy outcome (Beutler, Crago, & Arizmendi, 1986; Gar field, 1986). Specifically, initial similarity of values has been associated with client's perception of improvement (Arizmendi, Beutler, Shanfield, Crago, & Hagaman, 1985) and therapist desirability (Good, 1975). Apparently, cli ents can perceive their therapists' values and may even feel pressured to "converge" with such values, if they are different from their own, with the result that therapists may believe that the client has improved but the client does not (Kelly, 1990). Several studies have also suggested that individuals place greater importance on attitude similarity than on ethnicity or gender similarity when evaluating potential counselors (Atkinson, Furlong, & Pos ton, 1986; Atkinson, Poston, Furlong, & Mercado, 1989; Ponterotto, Alex ander, & Hinkston, 1988). These issues are particularly salient today in connection with gender role values. Beyond the question of gender-matching, there is good reason to believe that therapists' gender role attitudes are important in therapy outcome (Beutler, Crago, & Arizmendi, 1986). Therefore, it would seem appropriate to provide clients with some advanced information about the gender role attitudes of therapists, such as documenting a "feminist" label in advertisements. Several studies have found that providing labels such as "feminist" and "traditional" had rather complex effects (Lewis, Davis, & Lesmeister, 1983; Mimick-Chalmers, 1986; Schneider, 1985). Indeed, results indicated that while women preferred therapists labeled as "feminist" for career counseling, they preferred "traditional" therapists for personal or marital problems. These patterns were true even for women scoring high on femi nist attitudes (Lewis et al., 1983; Mimick-Chalmers, 1986; Schneider, 1985). Thus, it would seem that the very label "feminist" suggested a therapy less helpful in relationship problems. Results were even more dramatic when a more explicit statement of radical feminist values was presented to women (Lewis et al., 1983; Schneider, 1985). The statement, based on the radical feminist therapy ap proach described by Rawlings and Carter (1977), emphasized power in equities in relationships as well as the social, economic, and political status and goals for women. In the Lewis, Davis, and Lesmeister (1983) and Schneider (1985) studies, female participants were not willing to see this therapist for marital and parental conflicts, and they saw her as less trust worthy than the other therapists. Follow-up studies utilized descriptions and advertisements of feminist and traditional therapist values (Epperson & Lewis, 1987; Lewis, Epperson, & Foley, 1989). Results showed that male

Gender Role Attitudes and Therapeutic Attraction

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and female participants perceived the feminist therapist as likely to try to influence clients to adopt feminist values. Also, preference for the tradi tional therapist rather than the feminist therapist for most problems was reported, similar to findings from earlier studies. Although these results suggest a strong rejection of radical feminist values in therapy, several features of the research may have influenced re sults. First, two extreme positions (radical feminist vs. extreme traditional ist) were contrasted, although positions on these issues might very well fall along a continuum. Second, the feminist position was a mixture ranging from egalitarian personal relationships to radical political change, which might confuse the participants. More recent investigations have incorporated moderate feminist views and videotaped vignettes in place of and in addition to explicit written de scriptions and brief advertisements to assess client preference for feminist versus traditional counselors. Enns and Hackett (1990) had college women view vignettes of nonsexist, liberal feminist, and radical feminist counselors and subsequently rate the counselors. Results indicated that participants preferred the liberal and radical feminist counselors for career counseling and sexual assault issues, and showed no preference for any counselor for personal/interpersonal concerns (Enns & Hackett, 1990). In a follow-up study by Hackett, Enns, and Zetzer (1992) and a replication and extension study by Enns and Hackett (1993), college women viewed a videotape vignette, received a script of the. vignette, or received a written therapist description. Investigators found that (1) counselor preference was not af fected by mode of information delivery, i.e., videotape, transcript, or written therapist description, (2) participants preferred the liberal feminist to the radical feminist and humanistic counselors for personal and interpersonal concerns, and preferred the liberal feminist to the humanistic counselor for career issues, and (3) the feminist counselors (liberal and radical) were evaluated by female participants to be more likely to emphasize feminist goals in therapy (Enns & Hackett, 1993; Hackett et al., 1992). Enns and Hackett (1993) also found that men's responses to the different therapist types were generally similar to the women's responses, with the exception that the men viewed the liberal feminist and nonsexist counselors as more similar than the liberal feminist and radical feminist counselors. Enns and Hackett (1993) recommend more detailed investigation of personality at tributes and ethnic differences in reaction to different counseling styles, including the feminist orientation. The above studies are similar in that (1) therapist descriptions were general rather than specific to marital relation ship views, and (2) the videotaped vignettes included only females. Clearly, attitudes of the therapist can impact the therapeutic process. However, beliefs and traits of the client also can have an effect. Feminist

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attitudes have been measured in previous studies primarily by two self-re port instruments: (1) the Attitudes Toward Women Scale-Short Form (AWS; Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973), and (2) the Attitudes Toward Feminism Scale (ATFS; Smith, Feree, & Miller, 1975). It appears likely that the interaction between therapist and client feminist values would in fluence therapeutic focus and therapy outcome. Gender-related traits as well as feminist attitudes of clients also may influence the therapeutic proc ess and therapist-client match. Gender-related traits have traditionally in volved two orthogonal factors labeled masculine and feminine. "Masculine" and "feminine" scales on the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bern, 1974) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence & Helmreich, 1978) appear to actually measure instrumental and expressive personality traits (Holmbeck & Bale, 1988). Both the BSRI and PAQ have been found to have nearly identical instrumental and expressive factors (Antill & Cun ningham, 1982) and similar content (Spence, 1991). The PAQ was utilized in this study to ascertain the relationship between gender-related traits and therapeutic attraction. Previous studies in this area have focused on limited Caucasian, non Hispanic populations, with the investigation of ethnic influences being rec ommended (Enns & Hackett, 1993) as well as the study of interaction between gender and ethnicity (Davenport & Yurich, 1991; Reid & Co mas-Diaz, 1990). In a recent review of the literature, Unger and Sanchez Hudes (1993) posit that gender-related attitudes differ as a function of culture. There is some reason to believe that Hispanics have more tradi tional views of marriage and the family than non-Hispanics (Belk, Snell, Holtzman, Hernandez-Sanchez, & Garcia-Falconi, 1989; Comas-Diaz, 1987). Hispanic families stereotypically have been viewed as male-domi nated, although there have been few controlled studies investigating the presence of male dominance. Previous studies have found that accultura tion, increased level of education, and increased participation of Hispanic women in the work force were related to more feminist attitudes in His panic populations (Comas-Diaz, 1987; Davenport & Yurich, 1991; Kranau, Green, & Valencia-Weber, 1982; Vazquez-Nuttell, Romero-Garcia, & De Leon, 1987). Given these gaps in the literature, the purpose of the present study was to examine therapeutic attraction based on therapists' statements spe cifically about marital relationships representing a continuum of values from very traditional, to moderately traditional, to moderately egalitarian, to very egalitarian in relation to gender, ethnicity, gender-related attitudes, and gender-related traits. The feminist label was avoided and therapist gender was not specified. A large sample of Hispanic and Caucasian females and males was utilized.


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METHOD Participants Participants were 400 college undergraduates at University of Miami fulfilling a research requirement for introductory psychology or volunteers from higher-level psychology courses. There were 100 male Caucasian, non Hispanics; 100 female Caucasian, non-Hispanics; 100 male Hispanics; and 100 female Hispanics. Hispanic participants were predominantly Caucasian. Because of the nature of the university, all participants were primarily of moderate to upper SES. Pilot data on 175 students (116 Caucasian, 34 Hispanic, 15 Asian, 9 African American, and 1 Other) demonstrated that the Hispanics were acculturated to the United States using the Hispanic Acculturation Scale (Szapocznik, Kurtines, & Fernandez, 1980). Nearly all participants were unmarried. The mean age of participants was 19.40 years, with a standard deviation of 3.22 years. Measures

The Personal Attributes Questionnaire-Short Form (PAQ; Spence & Helmreich, 1978). The PAO consists of 24 Likert scaled items yielding two main measures with moderately good psychometric properties. The PAO Masculinity scale measures "instrumental" personality traits traditionally associated with males, while the PAO-Femininity scale measures "expres sive" traits traditionally identified with females. The PAO-Masculinity scale has been found to have test-retest reliability of 0.58 for males and 0.62 for females, while the PAO-Femininity scale has test-retest coefficients of 0.54 for males and 0.67 for females (Yoder, Rice, Adams, Priest, & Prince, 1982). As expected, males, M = 23.19, scored significantly higher on the PAO-Masculinity scale than females, M = 21.14; t(388.68) = 4.88, p < 0.001. Conversely, males, M = 23.34, scored significantly lower on the PAO-Femininity scale than females, M = 25.02; t(398) = -4.23, p < .001. Participants were classified into high and low masculinity and high and low femininity categories using a median split. The Attitudes Toward Women Scale-Short Form (AWS; Spence, Helm reich, & Stapp, 1973). The AWS measures feminist values of participants, with higher scores indicative of more feminist beliefs than lower scores. The AWS-Short Form consists of 15 Likert scaled items about the privi leges, rights, and functions of women in society. The AWS has been shown to have test-retest reliability of 0.74 for males and 0.80 for females (Yoder et al., 1982). As expected, males, M = 28.90, scored significantly lower on

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the AWS than females, M = 35.40; t(358.64) - -9.66, p < 0.001. Further more, Caucasians, M = 33.28, scored significantly higher on the AWS than Hispanics, M = 31.02; t(398) = 3.06, p < 0.01. Participants were classified into high and low feminist categories using a median split. Experimental Manipulation. Participants were presented with four therapist statements expressing their views on male-female relationships in marriage. Therapist gender was not indicated. Pilot work, using a 5-point Likert-type rating scale, showed that the four therapist statements repre sented very traditional, traditional, egalitarian, and very egalitarian views of marriage. However, the participants were not provided with labels of any kind, including therapist gender, before the ratings. The statements were presented in counterbalanced fashion and no significant order effects were found. The four therapist statements are presented below: Very Traditional: Dr. J. believes that the traditional marital relationship as described in the Judeo-Christian heritage provides the best framework for the long-term happiness of both men and women. Dr. J. believes that a woman has a right to be taken care of by a loving man. Dr. J. believes that the man should be loving toward his wife and provide for her as best he can. The man should take responsibility for the finances and major decisions. The wife will find that she will be much happier if she focuses on her children and home rather than seeking a career of her own. If she does want to work outside the home she should not do it without her husband's permission. Moderately Traditional: Dr. M. believes that the traditional marital relationship in which the husband takes care of the wife in a loving way, provides for the best chance of happiness for both the man and the woman. However, Dr. M. does not believe that the traditional marriage should be taken to an extreme. The husband should consult with the wife about major decisions and financial concerns and take her view into account. Although the care of the children and the house are primarily the wife's responsibility, the man should sometimes take care of the children to give her a break. If the wife wants to work outside the home, the husband should not object as long as it does not create major problems. Moderately Egalitarian: Dr. W. believes that important changes have taken place in the traditional roles of men and women and marriage. However, Dr. W. believes that the idea of marriage between equals can be taken to an extreme. Dr. W. believes that major decisions should be made in a cooperative manner. The couple should never let the notion of equality interfere with a loving relationship. They should cooperate in child-care and household duties. If both partners desire a career, it is important that both be given an opportunity to pursue this if feasible. However, it is important not to sacrifice the stability of the marriage just to ensure that both careers develop equally. It may very well be that the wife would stay home during child-rearing years. Very Egalitarian: Dr. R. believes that in the modern marriage traditional roles are no longer relevant. The historical liberation of people now requires that men and women be considered equal. Neither the husband nor wife should necessarily be the leader or protector. Both, the man and the woman, should cooperate in a loving way on all the issues in marriage, including financial decisions, child-care, and household duties. The financial, child-care, and household responsibilities of marriage fall equally on the man and the woman. It is extremely important that both partners fulfill themselves in their careers. If one must stay at home it can


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work equally well with either the man or the woman being the one to stay home depending on their abilities and talents.

As a manipulation check, after the ratings of the therapists were com pleted, participants were asked to rate the egalitarianism of the four thera pists using a 7-point Likert scale. There was a very clear linear relationship in the expected direction between the four therapists and egalitarianism with a significant main effect, F(3,1104) = 369.02, p < 0.001. There was no significant effect of gender, but there was a small effect of AWS. Femi nist participants saw the egalitarian therapists as more egalitarian and the traditional therapists as more traditional than the nonfeminist participants, F(3,1104) = 6.47, p < 0.001. Dependent Measures: Therapeutic Attraction, Expectation of Positive Relationship, and Expectation of Therapist Disclosure. Therapeutic Attrac tion, Expectation of Positive Relationship, and Expectation of Therapist Disclosure scales were devised for this study. The Therapeutic Attraction scale consisted of one item that required the participants to rate their global feeling toward the therapist on a Likert scale from 1 "strongly nega tive" to 7 "strongly positive." This item was face valid. A limitation of this measure is that it is comprised of only one item. The Expectation of Positive Relationship scale consisted of 4 Likert scaled items, which were summed into a single score. This scale tapped what the subject would ex pect from a therapeutic relationship with each therapist and was based on four of the five categories found important in therapeutic relationships by Barrett-Lennard (1962). The four categories were level of regard, em pathic understanding, congruence, and unconditionality of regard. The Ex pectation of Therapist Disclosure scale consisted of one item that was based on the fifth category deemed valuable in therapeutic alliances by Barrett-Lennard (1962), willingness to be known. Internal consistency of the Expectation of Positive Relationship scale was very high (alpha = 0.88). Procedure

Participants completed questionnaires in groups of 20 or less. The research packet consisted of an informed consent form; demographic ques tionnaire; therapist descriptions; the Therapeutic Attraction, Expectation of Positive Relationship, and Expectation of Therapist Disclosure scales; Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAO); and Attitude Toward Women Scale (AWS).

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RESULTS A six-way factorial ANOVA was completed with five between-subjects factors (gender, ethnicity, PAQ-Masculinity classification, PAQ-Femininity classification, AWS classification) and one within-subjects factor (Therapist orientation). Each of the between-subjects factors had two levels, and the within-subjects factor had four levels. The six-way factorial ANOVA was carried out separately for each of the three dependent variables (Thera peutic Attraction, Expectation of Positive Relationship, and Expectation of Therapist Disclosure). The relationship between therapist egalitarianism and Therapeutic Attraction was such that Therapeutic Attraction increased with the increas ing egalitarianism of the therapists, leveling off from moderate to very egalitarian therapists. ANOVA showed a significant Therapist main effect, F(3, 1104) = 198.03, p < 0.001. Tukey's post hoc tests showed that each of the means was significantly different from the others, except that the means for the moderately egalitarian and very egalitarian therapists did not significantly differ. The relationship between therapist egalitarianism and Therapeutic Attraction for males and females is shown in Fig. 1. For females, Thera peutic Attraction steadily rose from traditional therapists to egalitarian therapists, leveling off for the moderately egalitarian to very egalitarian therapists. For males, Therapeutic Attraction rose from very traditional to moderately traditional therapists, leveled off for the moderately traditional to moderately egalitarian therapists, and then decreased for the very egali tarian therapist. The interaction was such that males preferred the more traditional therapists more than females, while females preferred the very egalitarian therapist more than males. ANOVA showed a significant Gender x Therapist interaction, F(3, 1104) = 12.98, p < 0.001. Tukey's post hoc tests showed that for males, each of the means was significantly different from the others, except that the means for the moderately traditional and moderately egalitarian thera pists did not significantly differ. For females, each of the means significantly differed from the others. T-tests showed that males scored significantly higher than females on Therapeutic Attraction for very traditional, mod erately traditional, and moderately egalitarian therapists. Males scored sig nificantly lower than females on Therapeutic Attraction for the very egalitarian therapist, t(384.6) = -5.31, p < 0.001. The relationship between therapist egalitarianism and Therapeutic Attraction for feminist and nonfeminist participants (based on AWS) is shown in Fig. 2. For feminist participants, Therapeutic Attraction steadily increased with therapist egalitarianism. For nonfeminist participants,

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Gender Role Attitudes and Therapeutic Attraction �

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Fig. 1. Relationship between egalitarianism of therapists and therapeutic attraction for male and female participants.

Therapeutic Attraction rose from the very traditional therapist to the mod erately traditional therapist, leveled off from the moderately traditional to moderately egalitarian therapists, and decreased for the very egalitarian therapist. The interaction was such that nonfeminist participants preferred the more traditional therapists more than the feminist participants, while the feminist participants preferred the very egalitarian therapist more than nonfeminist participants. ANOVA showed a significant AWS x Therapist interaction, F(3, 1104) = 31.25, p < 0.001. Tukey's post hoc tests showed that for non feminist participants, each of the means was significantly different from the others, except that the means for the moderately traditional and moderately egalitarian therapists did not significantly differ. For feminist participants, each of the means significantly differed from the others. T-tests showed that nonfeminist participants scored significantly higher on Therapeutic At traction for the very traditional and moderately traditional therapists than feminist participants. Feminist and nonfeminist participants did not differ on Therapeutic Attraction for the moderately egalitarian therapist. Non feminist participants scored significantly lower on Therapeutic Attraction

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Kamilar, Murray, and Segal a

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Fig. 2. Relationship between egalitarianism of therapists and therapeutic attraction for participants with feminist and nonfeminist attitudes, as measured by the AWS.

to the very egalitarian therapist than feminist participants, t(342.9) = -9.96, p < 0.001. Large gender differences in the AWS scores were found, which could indicate two possibilities: (1) the significant AWS x Therapist interaction for Therapeutic Attraction was due to gender, or (2) the significant Gender x Therapist finding for Therapeutic Attraction was due to the AWS. The Gender x AWS x Therapist interaction for Therapeutic Attraction, F(3, 1104) = 1.20, n.s., was nonsignificant, indicating that the Gender x Thera pist and AWS x Therapist interactions for Therapeutic Attraction were in dependent. Hispanic and Caucasian participants were found not to differ on Therapeutic Attraction for the four therapists. ANOVA showed a nonsig nificant Ethnicity x Therapist interaction, F(3, 1104) = 0.50, n.s. As for the PAO questionnaire, instrumental and noninstrumental participants were found not to differ on Therapeutic Attraction for the four therapists. ANOVA showed a nonsignificant PAO-Masculinity x Therapist interaction, F(3, 1104) = 1.28, n.s. So, too, expressive and non-


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expressive participants were found not to differ on Therapeutic Attraction for the four therapists. ANOVA showed a nonsignificant PAO-Femininity x Therapist interaction, F(3, 1104) = 0.05, n.s. In general, the PAQ was not of predictive value, although there were some higher-order interac tions of the two scales and therapeutic attractiveness that were difficult to interpret. Results for Expectation of Positive Relationship completely mirrored the results for Therapeutic Attraction. For the purpose of brevity, individ ual statistics will not be reported. No significant effects were found for Expectation of Therapist Disclosure. DISCUSSION It was found that participants' global feeling toward the therapist, as measured by Therapeutic Attraction, and anticipation of a positive thera peutic alliance, as measured by Expectation of Positive Relationship, in creased with therapist's increasing egalitarianism in their view of marital roles. This mild aversion to the very traditional therapist and increasing attraction to the more egalitarian therapists was consistent regardless of participant gender, ethnicity, degree of feminist attitudes, instrumentalism, and expressiveness. The increase in preference leveled off from the mod erate to extremist egalitarian therapists. Our finding is the opposite of results reported by Mimick-Chalmers (1986), Schneider (1985), and Lewis et al. (1983). Those studies found that participants preferred a traditional therapist, relative to a feminist therapist, for relationship issues. Mimick-Chalmers (1986) showed that participants preferred the feminist-labeled therapist for career issues. The present study, unlike those earlier investigations, did not use the feminist label. It is possible that the feminist label may have carried with it nega tive connotations that influenced participants' perceptions of therapists in those studies. Unlike the above-noted studies, our study utilized a con tinuum of therapist egalitarianism and focused on therapist attitudes on marital relationships. Indeed, a majority of therapists are likely to hold more moderate views on relationships. Moderate egalitarian views were rated most highly in this study, except that feminist participants preferred the extreme egalitarian therapist. Mimick-Chalmers (1986), Schneider (1985), and Lewis et al. (1983) used only extreme feminist views and ap pear to have missed the more subtle relationship between moderate and extreme egalitarian views. The results of our study support the finding from more recent investigations that males and females preferred the lib eral feminist therapist over radical feminist and nonsexist therapists

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(Enns & Hackett, 1993; Hackett et al., 1992). These recent studies em ployed videotaped vignettes depicting radical feminist, liberal feminist, and nonsexist therapists. Preference for more egalitarian therapists in this study may be in dicative of current American culture, in which women play a more diver sified role in society. One way to test this hypothesis would be to compare AWS means for previous studies to the means found in this study. Unfor tunately, this hypothesis could not be investigated since the previous studies did not utilize the current version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale Short Form that we administered. Overall, participants' desire to see the therapist and expectation of a positive therapeutic alliance were highest for the moderately egalitarian therapist. This finding may have some impact for feminist therapists who advertise themselves as feminist. The therapist that held the extremist egali tarian view was less attractive than the therapist that held the moderate view for nonfeminist males and females. This extremist viewpoint was pos sibly a turnoff for nonfeminist participants. It could be extrapolated that the same would hold true in a therapeutic setting. This initial negative per ception of the extremely feminist therapist could affect the client's moti vation for continuing therapy as well as development of a therapeutic alliance. Gender did not appear to have as large an influence on Therapeutic Attraction and Expectation of Positive Relationship as feminist attitudes. Males seemed to have the same basic attitude as females, although small differences did exist. Females were consistently more rejecting of the very traditional therapist, and were more attracted to the egalitarian therapists than males. Ethnicity had a relatively minor influence on participants' therapeu tic attraction with any type of therapist. Ethnic differences were expected such that Hispanic participants would prefer the more traditional thera pists and Caucasian, non-Hispanic participants would prefer the more egalitarian therapists because of the more traditional and macho attitude of the Hispanic culture (Belk et al., 1989; Comas-Diaz, 1987). However, in this study, Hispanic participants were students at a private university and therefore were at a higher socioeconomic and educational level than the norm. This sample also appeared to be acculturated to American so ciety based on preliminary data collection. Indeed, acculturation and level of education can influence the feminist attitudes of Hispanic populations, as has been found previously (Comas-Diaz, 1987; Davenport & Yurich, 1991; Kranau et al., 1982; Vazquez-Nuttall et al., 1987). Findings involving gender-related trait measures, such as instrumentalism and expressiveness, as opposed to feminist attitude measures, have been less consistent


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(Vazquez-Nuttall et al., 1987). Studies including acculturation as a variable have found perception of therapist was affected by acculturation level, al though such effects were inconsistent (Kunkel, 1990; Pomales & Williams, 1989). Kunkel (1990) asserts that these inconsistent ethnic effects suggest that cultural similarities, in addition to cultural differences, should be em phasized in the conceptualization of culturally specific psychology and counseling. Expressiveness and instrumentalism were only minimally related to Therapeutic Attraction and Expectation of Positive Relationship. This sug gests that participants' preference for particular therapists may be influ enced more by the attitudes they hold than by personality differences such as expressiveness and instrumentalism. Previous studies have also shown rather mixed and/or weak findings about the effects of client personality variables on therapy process and outcome (Garfield, 1986). Although femi nist values were used on a continuum implying quantitative differences be tween traditional and feminist views, some literature suggests that traditional and feminist views may be qualitatively different and may not lend itself to the continuum approach (Tong, 1989). Several limitations of our study should be noted. First, the sample may not be representative of actual therapy clients since college under graduates were utilized. This may limit generalizability of our results. Sec ond, the Hispanic sample was found to be quite acculturated to American values, thus limiting ethnic influences. Third, the primary dependent meas ure employed in this study was based on few items and was not a standard instrument in previous research. Replication of this study with a sample of psychotherapy clients would increase generalizability of our results. Also, selection of Hispanic partici pants with varying acculturation, socioeconomic status, and education with a matching sample of Caucasian, non-Hispanics may further flesh out the ethnic influence on therapist preference and feminist attitudes. A direct manipulation of explicit labels would clarify the role of explicit labeling and client preference. In such a study, a group of participants could receive the therapist descriptions with explicit labels attached and another group would receive the descriptions with no labels. Lastly, inclusion of more widely studied and validated measures to assess client pref erence and ex pectations toward the therapist would add to the methodological soundness of future studies. The Barrett-Lennard scales (Barrett-Lennard, 1962), Counselor Preference Questionnaire (CPQ; Blier, Atkinson, & Geer, 1987), Counselor Rating Form (CRF; Barak & LaCrosse, 1975), and Counselor Rating Form-Short version (CRF-S; Corrigan & Schmidt, 1983) could be applied.

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