The effects of counselor profanity and physical attractiveness for male and female counselors were examined in a counseling analogue. In a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design, 72 male and female volunteer subjects were randomly assigned to one of eight experimental conditions of videotaped counseling sessions where they rated the counselor on a variety of dependent measures related to their impressions of counselor professional and personal attributes, likelihood of counseling for a variety of presenting problems, and their satisfaction. Multivariate analyses of the data revealed that counselors using profanity were rated less favorably across all measures regardless of physical attractiveness. A significant multivariate interaction indicated that when profanity was present, female counselors were rated more positively than male counselors. Overall, physically attractive counselors, regardless of their sex or use of profanity, were judged to have more favorable attributes. Implications of these results on the counseling process are discussed.

This study employed a2x2x2x2x2 design to investigate the predictions of social influence theory with respect to subjects' perceptions of counselors' professional and personal attributes and subjects' evaluations of the counselors. Expert and referent power bases and influence attempts were crossed with levels of counselor physical attractiveness together with subject and counselor gender in a counseling analogue. Undergraduate students (64 men and 64 women) viewed one of eight videotaped simulated counseling interviews and completed rating forms assessing their perceptions and evaluations. Multivariate and univariate analyses supported social influence theory in that (a) expert conditions produced higher ratings of professional attributes than did referent conditions, (b) referent conditions produced higher ratings of personal attributes than did expert conditions, (c) congruent conditions (power base and influence attempt) produced higher ratings than did incongruent conditions on all measures, and (d) physical attractiveness mediated the effects of congruence for personal but not for professional attributes. No gender differences were present. Implications of results on the social influence process are discussed.The interpersonal influence theory of counseling (Strong, 1968;Strong & Claiborn, 1982) has received considerable attention in research. Most notably, client change has been suggested to be a resultant effect of the counselor's use of social power, defined as the correspondence between the client's perceived needs and the client's perception of the counselor's resources for meeting those needs (Strong & Matross, 1973). Strong (1968) contended that counselors enhance their perceived credibility by means of their inherent role as helpers. The very nature of their role as helpers to people in need conveys social power onto the counselor. Strong refers to this as the counselor's power base, and research has successfully operationalized the power base by providing clients with prestigious role introductions of the counselor (e.g., Heppner & Pew, 1977;.The two most widely studied sources of counselor power base are expert and referent power (Corrigan, Dell, Lewis, & Schmidt, 1980). Associated with each power base is its corresponding influence attempt, described by Strong and Matross (1973) as counselor remarks or verbal interventions that imply or activate forces for client change. Research has shown that client perceptions of the counselor can be influenced by the counselor's use of expert influence (e.g., Heppner & Pew, 1977;Kerr & Dell, 1976). Similarly, studies have shown, although less conclusively (e.g., Corrigan et al., 1980), that manipulations of referent influence can enhance client perceptions of perceived similarity and attractiveness.Appreciation is extended to Carol Rosenblum, Barbara Orlans, and Raymond Tierney for their help and assistance with this study.

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This symposium should be very helpful to departments planning increased emphasis on biofeedback training.