THE EFFECTS OF LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION ON HISPANIC STUDENTS\u27 PERCEPTIONS OF COUNSELOR, WILLINGNESS TO SELF-DISCLOSE, AND PREFERENCE FOR COUNSELING STYLE (PUERTO RICAN, MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS, CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING)

Level of acculturation is an indication of an individual\u27s commitment to and preference for two or more cultures. In the present study acculturation ranged on a continuum from a strong identification with Puerto Rican culture, to an equal preference for minority and majority culture, to a strong identification with Anglo American culture. It was hypothesized that Hispanic students\u27 level of acculturation would affect their perceptions of counselors, willingness to self disclose, and preferences for counseling style. Pretesting on a behavioral acculturation scale placed 94 Hispanic undergraduate college students in one of three types: Puerto Rican acculturated, bicultural, and Anglo acculturated. The subjects then viewed a counseling videotape of one of two white female counselors portraying either a directive or a nondirective counseling style. The counseling interview represented an initial counseling session with graduate students portraying the roles of counselor and client. The presenting problem centered around adjustment to college. After viewing the videotape participants rated the counselor on the Counselor Rating Form - Short version, the Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale, and a modified Jourard Self Disclosure Scale. The scales of these instruments represented the dependent measures. The independent variables were: level of acculturation, counseling style, and sex of subject. Results indicated that acculturation had a significant effect on trustworthiness, counselor understanding, and self disclosure about attitudes and opinions, tastes and interests, and body. Preference for counseling style, as indicated by willingness to see a counselor, was not significantly affected by level of acculturation. Counseling style had a significant effect on perception of counselor job mastery, counselor desire to help, willingness to see a counselor, and self disclosure about educational needs. Sex had a significant effect on the perception of the counselor as attractive. No significant effects were found for the dependent variables of expertness, counselor ability to help and self disclosure about money and personality. Results are discussed in terms of their implication for counseling Hispanic college students. Limitations and suggestions for further research are also presented