The Effects of the Counselors Spiritual Background and the Participants Spirituality on the Participants Perceptions of the Expertness, Attractiveness, and Trustworthiness of the Counselor

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of the counselors spiritual background and participant spirituality on the perceptions of the expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness of the counselor. The following questions were examined using a MANOVA: 1) Did participants perceive a counselors expertness, attractiveness, and/or trustworthiness differently based on the self-rated spirituality of the participant? 2) Did participants perceive a counselors expertness, attractiveness, and/or trustworthiness differently based on the spiritual background of the counselor? 3) Was there an interaction between the counselors spiritual background and the participants self-rated spirituality with regard to how the participant perceived the counselors expertness, attractiveness, and/or trustworthiness? To answer these questions, 267 participants from a large public urban university in the Southeastern United States completed a brief demographic questionnaire, received one of two counselor backgrounds, and then viewed a videotaped vignette portraying a client-counselor interaction. Participants then rated the counselors trustworthiness, expertness, and attractiveness using the Counselor Rating Form Short Version (CRF-S) and self-rated their spirituality using the Spiritual Assessment Inventory Awareness Scale (SAI). Results indicated that participants ratings of the counselors trustworthiness, expertness, and attractiveness was not significantly different based on the counselors spiritual background or the participants self-rated spirituality. The majority of participants self-ratings indicated high spirituality with a median score on the SAI Awareness scale was 4.11 (Substantially True). The mean CRF-S ratings were: Expertness (21.03), Attractiveness, (20.05), and Trustworthiness (21.69)