Therapist expectancies: client gender, and therapist gender, profession, and level of training

Examined the influence on therapists' expectancies of four variables: Client's gender, therapist's gender, therapist's professional affiliation, and therapist's level of training. A total of 893 counselors, clinical social workers, and clinical psychologists at three training levels (beginning master's student, ending master's student, post-master's professional) completed the Therapist Expectancy Inventory in reference to a male or female client description. Data were analyzed using MANOVA and discriminant function analysis procedures. Significant differences on diagnostic, prognostic, or process dimensions of expectancies were found for the main effects of therapist gender, professional affiliation, and level of training. The client gender effect was not significant. It is concluded that therapists' judgments about the client and their role in counseling are more a function of certain therapist characteristics than client gender.