Effects of therapist title on competence as perceived by a psychiatric sample

A study was conducted on how perceptions of a therapist's competence are affected by the therapist's title. Psychiatric inpatients (58 males and 24 females) viewed one of four copies of a videotaped session of the interaction between a male therapist and a male client. One tape described the therapist as "Doctor," one tape described him as "Mister," one by his first name, and one with no name or title. The therapist was rated by the patients on 11 qualities related to competence. Of 11 analyses, 1 title effect was found, and females rated the therapist higher on two qualities. Overall, 9 of the qualities showed no effect for title or for ratings by gender.