The effect of counselor value orientation and Christian client religious orientation on the perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness of professional counselors

Counseling is not a value free process. Because religious beliefs are related to values, it is important to understand the effect of client religious orientation and counselor value orientation on the counseling process. Social influence theory indicates that a client's perception of a counselor as expert, attractive, and trustworthy determines the power base a counselor has to affect change.;The present study examined the effect of counselor value orientation as either Christian or secular and client religious orientation on the perceptions of expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness of professional counselors. Analogue counseling sessions, using an audiotape interview with counselor value statements manipulated experimentally, were used as the two treatment conditions. Instruments used in the study included the Counselor Rating Form--Quick Score (CRF-QS) which measures the perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness of counselors and the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) which measures the extrinsic and intrinsic religious orientation.;A sample of Christian subjects (;The results of the canonical correlation analysis (Rc =.32, ;This research lends support to social influence theory's position that a similarity of values increases the perception of counselor attractiveness. Additionally, the research emphasized the importance of considering client religious values as an important part of the counseling process.