The effects of supervisor cultural responsiveness and ethnic group similarity on Asian American supervisees' perceptions of supervisor credibility and multicultural competence

This dissertation is an analog survey study that investigates the perceptions that Asian American supervisees have about the credibility and multicultural competence of supervisors. The design and variables of the study are based on similar multicultural counseling process research but the focus is multicultural supervision process. Specifically, the study examines the impact of two independent variables: supervisor responsiveness to the cultural issues that are raised by a counselor (responsive vs. unresponsive) and supervisor ethnic group membership (Asian American vs. European American) when both the counselor and client are Asian American. The dependent variables of supervisor credibility and multicultural counseling competence were assessed with modified versions of the Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale (Atkinson, & Carskaddon, 1975) and the Cross Cultural Counseling Inventory - Revised (LaFromboise, Coleman, & Hernandez, 1991). Additional variables that were examined included participants' levels of behavioral acculturation, as assessed by the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (Suinn, Rickard-Figueroa, Lew, & Vigil, 1987), and enculturation of Asian values as measured by the Asian Values Scale (Kim, Atkinson, & Yang, 1999). Manipulation of independent variables was conveyed through supervisor photographs and supervision transcripts. Photographs were digitally edited to maximize similarity among all photos and to control for extraneous variables (body shape, clothing, background, etc.). Participants were a national sample of 253 Asian and Asian American masters and doctoral level students in the fields of clinical and counseling psychology. Participants were randomly selected from a membership directory of the American Psychological Association. Results show that supervisor ethnic group membership and responsiveness to cultural issues have significant impact on Asian American supervisee's perceptions. Results also suggest that supervisor responsiveness to culture may have greater impact than supervisor ethnic group membership. However, results also suggest that counselors' perceptions of supervisors may be impacted by the willingness of the supervisee to integrate cultural issues in supervision. Implications for supervision practice, supervision research, and psychological theory are discussed.