Congruence of Counselor Self-Disclosure and Perceived Effectiveness

Students in the congruent group reported a more favorable total perception, a higher attractiveness perception, and a greater desire to choose the counselor than did participants in the incongruent group.

Abstract

Sixty-seven college students rated a counselor on expertness, trustworthiness, and attractiveness based on reading 1 of 2 randomly assigned session transcripts. The desire to choose the depicted counselor was also measured. In both transcripts, the counselor self-disclosed his or her use of prayer. A single-client statement varied across the 2 transcripts such that one contained a congruent counselor self-disclosure (counselor disclosure after client disclosure) and the other included an incongruent self-disclosure (counselor disclosure without client disclosure). A potential covariate, religiosity, was examined but did not draw significant variance. Participants in the congruent group reported a more favorable total perception, a higher attractiveness perception, and a greater desire to choose the counselor than did participants in the incongruent group. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.