The Characteristic Of University Students' Decision Making Process Of Seeking Professional Help

The present article distinguished two kinds of university students by Phases-Decision-Making Model of help-seeking process. The first kind students were those who were suffering psychological problems unresolved by themselves but didn't seek help at any time; the other kind students were those who sought nonprofessional help and hadn't got the satisfying results but still didn't ask for professional help. The author designed the questionnaire using the principle and the method of the theory of planned behavior for understanding the state of university students' seeking-help behavior and the characteristic of their decision-making process of seeking professional help. 1124 students coming from seven universities in WUHAN joined the study. Results showed that:1. The male students were less likely to seek help than female students, but they didn't show differences with female students in the actual behavior in seeking professional help.2. Close friends were the first helpers for students suffering psychological problems, the next two were families and lovers. Counselors were the fifth. Although few students sought professional help at the first time, after seeking nonprofessional help some students were likely to appeal to counselors.3. For the first kind students, anticipated advantages and disadvantages and control of the behavior were the main contents evaluated in their decision making of professional help seeking process. The beliefs improved their intention of seeking professional help included: seeking professional help could release the pressure, make the problem more clear, learn some self-help measures, understand oneself more, resolve or at less improve the problems. The beliefs reduced their intention of seeking professional help included: seeking professional help would produce new problem, waste their energy and time, other things could handicap their seeking behavior just like time confliction, the booking and time arrangement were too trouble.4. For the second kind students, anticipated advantages and the important others attitude toward their seeking behavior and the efficiency of being good help seekers were the main contents evaluated in their decision making of professional help seeking process. The beliefs improved their intention of seeking professional help were the same as the first kind students. While the beliefs reduced their intention of seeking professional help were not. To them, these beliefs concluded: the family and close friends' attitude toward their seeking professional help, whether they could disclose to counselors, control their emotion in counseling, and elaborate the problems or not.And else, the author suggested that school counseling could increase the number ofclients by improving the counselor's professional skill and the manner of propaganda,changing the fixed service format into flexible one.