Influence of counselors' marital status, sex, and age on college and noncollege women's counselor preferences.

Abstract

Examined women's preferences for counselors differing in marital status, sex, and age in 2 studies. Ss in Study 1 were 32 female undergraduates, and Ss in Study 2 were 32 noncollege women. The experimental design for both studies was a 2.24 split-plot analysis of variance with 2 levels of marital status, 2 levels of counselor sex, and 4 age groupings. Results of Studies 1 and 2 indicate that college women and noncollege women preferred female counselors older than themselves to male counselors on a number of hypothetical process measures. Changing trends in women's counselor preferences are discussed.

The Influence of Facilitator and Facilitation Characteristics on Participants' Ratings of Stepfamily Education

“…The effect of therapist age has mostly been investigated using uncontrolled studies, which have consistently found that the age of the therapist has no significant relationship to outcome (Huppert et al, 2001). At one point during the life span of this research question, there did appear to be evidence of a preference for middle‐aged counselors (e.g., Simons & Helms, 1976), but subsequent research has failed to show a consistent result (Beutler, Machado, & Neufeldt, 1994).…”

“…Clinical literature. Simons and Helms (1976) initially investigated marital status experience similarities and found they did not influence college students' preference for a therapist. Campbell and Johnson revisited the question in 1991 in the context of marital therapy and found clinicians' marital status had no effect on either the perceived credibility of the therapist or the clients' expectations of therapy: ''both married and single marital therapists (were) seen as equally expert, attractive, and trustworthy'' (p. 364).…”

Effect of Client-Therapist Gender Match on the Therapeutic Relationship: An Exploratory Analysis

“…Matching also has long been advocated by academic researchers and theorists; for example, it has been recommended that clients and therapists be matched on the basis of age ( Boulware & Holmes, 1970 ), sexual orientation ( Beane, 1981 ), race ( Thompson, Worthington, & Atkinson, 1994 ), and race/ethnicity ( McGoldrick, Giordano, & Garcia-Preto, 2005 ). Matching clients and therapists on the basis of gender has been the most widely recommended and examined method of demographic matching, and it has constituted a major theme in counseling research ( Koile & Bird, 1956 ;Boulware & Holmes, 1970 ;Simons & Helms, 1976 ;Highlen & Russell, 1980 ;Jones and Zoppel, 1982 ;Yanico & Hardin, 1985 ;Orlinsky and Howard, 1986 ;Bernstein, Hofmann, & Wade, 1987 ;Blier, Atkinson, & Geer, 1987 ;DeHeer, Wampold, & Freund, 1992 ;Fowler, Wagner, Iachini, & Johnson, 1992 ;Fowler & Wagner, 1993 ;Fujino, Okazaki, & Young, 1994 ;Wintersteen, et al , 2005 ;Blow, Timm, & Cox, 2008;Johnson & Caldwell, 2011 A number of diff erent theories have been articulated to support the practice of matching clients and therapists on the basis of gender. Generally, these theories rest upon the premise that people better identify with and better understand people they believe to be similar to themselves ( Fabrikant, 1974 ;Eagly, 1987 ).…”

Marital Status and Gender Similarity in Marital Therapy

“…One experience similarity variable that has drawn only limited attention in this research is marital status. Simons and Helm (1976) found that, with a college sample, marital status alone was not an influencing factor in therapist preference. Instead, they found that marital status interacted with therapist sex such that the participants preferred single female therapists over single male therapists; perceived single female therapists as more competent; and anticipated being more willing to self-disclose with a single female therapist.…”