Influencing client expectations about career counseling using a videotaped intervention.

   Realistic client expectations about career counseling are essential
   to positive client outcomes. The authors investigated a videotaped
   intervention designed to influence participants' expectations about
   career counseling using a pretest/posttest experimental design. As
   measured by the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (H. E. A.
   Tinsley, 1982), undergraduate participants who watched the videotaped
   intervention significantly increased their expectations of personal
   commitment to career counseling and decreased their expectations of
   counselor expertise compared with participants who watched a control
   videotape. A secondary hypothesis, that changes in expectations
   would positively affect attitudes toward career counseling as
   measured by the Attitudes Toward Career Counseling Scale (A. B.
   Rochlen, J. J. Mohr, & B. K. Hargrove, 1999), was not supported.

A long history of research indicates that clients enter counseling with varying expectations about the roles they and the counselor will play, their likelihood of improvement, and the general counseling process itself (e.g., Goldstein, 1962; Heilbrun, 1972). Researchers have theorized about these expectations, and they have been shown to affect numerous aspects of counseling, including the working alliance between client and counselor, clients' level of involvement in counseling, and counseling effectiveness (e.g., Bordin, 1955; Frank, 1968; H. E. A. Tinsley, Tokar, & Helwig, 1994; Tokar, Hardin, Adams, & Brandel, 1996). Some studies have shown that influencing clients' expectations by briefing them about what to expect in counseling has been found to have beneficial effects on counseling, including increased client responsibility and relevant verbal responsiveness (Friedlander & Kaul, 1983), and decreased incidence of early termination of counseling sessions (Heilbrun, 1972). In contrast, H. E. A. Tinsley, Bowman, and Barich (1993) reported that negative or unrealistic client expectations are viewed by counseling practitioners as having a detrimental effect on counseling. They reported that counseling psychologists perceived their clients as most often having unrealistically low expectations about their own level of personal commitment to counseling while simultaneously having unrealistically high expectations about their counselor's level of expertise. Incongruence between expectations about and what actually occurs in counseling is thought to negatively affect counseling (Kelly, 1955). For example, early termination of counseling sessions may result from unconfirmed client expectations about counseling (Borghi, 1968). Taken together, this research suggests that if positive and/or realistic expectations about counseling lead to beneficial results, whereas negative and/or unrealistic expectations lead to detrimental results, it would be desirable for counselors to have the ability to influence client expectations about counseling in the preferred direction.

The ability to influence client expectations may be especially important in the realm of career counseling. In fact, H. E. A. Tinsley et al. (1993) speculated that unrealistically low expectations associated with personal commitment to counseling and unrealistically high expectations related to counselor expertise may be even more detrimental for those seeking vocational or educational counseling. Research has shown that, compared with clients seeking counseling for personal concerns, clients seeking counseling for career concerns expect fewer counseling sessions (June & Smith, 1983). More specifically, Galassi, Crace, Martin, James, and Wallace (1992) found that students seeking career counseling expected counseling to involve about three sessions. It seems reasonable to speculate that career clients' expectation of a rather brief duration for counseling may be linked to unrealistic and potentially detrimental expectations (see H. E. A. Tinsley et al., 1993) that the counselor will be able to "fix" them quickly without much effort on their part. In fact, positive expectations about personal commitment have been found to be positively related to greater client involvement in career counseling (H. E. A. Tinsley et al., 1994). Furthermore, clients who expect to assume more personal responsibility for working hard in counseling are more likely to evaluate their relationship with their counselor as collaborative and productive than are clients who expect an "expert" to solve their problems without having to actively participate themselves (Tokar et al., 1996). It is not uncommon for career counselors to be faced with clients who believe that an interest inventory ("the test"), the counselor, or a combination of the two will provide them with a quick, easy answer to the question of "What should I be when I grow up?"

When clients enter career counseling with unrealistic expectations about what they and their counselors will be doing, practitioners will want to intervene in a way that increases the likelihood of positive outcomes for those clients. Extrapolating from past research, career counselors could reasonably conclude that simply providing individuals with direct, concise information about what they can realistically expect from career counseling should theoretically be useful in changing clients' expectations about counseling, and thus their counseling outcomes. However, no methodologically sound research exists that has examined whether or not expectations about career counseling can be changed. In fact, in a comprehensive review of studies investigating client expectations about counseling in general, H. E. A. Tinsley, Bowman, and Ray (1988) identified several significant methodological concerns related to that body of literature. First, very few researchers provided direct evidence to indicate a successful changing of expectations, and most of the studies failed to randomly assign participants to the experimental conditions. Second, some studies actually measured clients' perceptions about what occurred in counseling rather than clients' expectations about what would occur in counseling; despite their conceptual similarity, expectations about and perceptions of counseling are distinct constructs (Hayes & Tinsley, 1989). Third, most of the studies did not use a comprehensive and psychometrically sound measure of expectations about counseling. Furthermore, given the continuing debate in the literature as to whether clients enter career counseling with the same expectations as clients seeking personal counseling (see Galassi et al., 1992; Hardin & Yanico, 1983; June & Smith, 1983), results of much of the research on changing client expectations may not generalize to expectations about career counseling. Only one unpublished study has specifically examined whether or not expectations about career counseling can be changed. Using a written role induction, Walsh (1993) was successful in changing 5 of 11 expectations about career counseling, as measured by an instrument that was developed for use in her study.

Thus, the primary purpose of this investigation was to extend previous research on influencing client expectations about counseling by examining the effect of a videotaped intervention on college students' expectations about career counseling. In addition to focusing specifically on career counseling, this study extended earlier efforts in two important ways: (a) by using stronger methodological procedures and (b) by using a comprehensive, validated instrument measuring a larger range of expectations about counseling, the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B, H. E. A. Tinsley, 1982). The EAC-B measures expectancies about client and counselor attitudes and behaviors, counselor characteristics, and counseling process and outcome. The EAC-B may be scored for three broad factors, two of which are important to this study: Personal Commitment (the amount of personal responsibility the client expects to assume in counseling) and Counselor Expertise (the client's expectation that the counselor will be skilled and able to help him or her).

We hypothesized that, after viewing the videotaped intervention about what to expect in career counseling, participants' EAC-B scores would be higher on the Personal Commitment factor and lower on the Counselor Expertise factor than the scores of participants in the control group. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participants' anticipated expectation change and their attitudes toward career counseling. Although both attitudes and expectancies are precounseling variables that have been posited to affect aspects of counseling process and outcome (e.g., Bordin, 1955; Hill, 1991), the relationship between people's attitudes toward and expectations about career counseling has yet to be examined (Rochlen et al., 1999). It is reasonable to speculate that the anticipated changes in participants' expectations about career counseling from pretest to posttest would be predictive of a positive change in participants' attitudes toward career counseling. Thus, a second hypothesis predicted that changes in EAC-B factor scores of the participants in the experimental condition would contribute incrementally (i.e., beyond pretest attitudes toward career counseling) to their posttest attitudes toward career counseling.

Method

Participants

Participants were 168 (85 women and 83 men) undergraduate students attending a large, midwestern university; they received extra course credit for their participation. Participants ranged in age from 17 to 47 years (M = 22.3 years, SD = 5.8); the majority were White (73%), 19% were African American, 4% were Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% were Native American, 2% were multiracial, and fewer than 1% were Hispanic. Fifty-nine percent were freshmen, 15% were sophomores, 11% were juniors, 12% were seniors, and 2% indicated other class ranking. Approximately half (51%) indicated they had received career or academic counseling, and 34% reported having received personal counseling.

Materials

Participants in the experimental group viewed a 9-minute videotape simulating a first counseling session. In the videotape, a female counselor is seen acquainting a male client, who is presenting with career concerns, with what he should expect in career counseling. The content focuses primarily on the expectancy domains that we were hoping to change. First, the videotape emphasizes the need for the client to assume personal responsibility for working hard in counseling. For example, the counselor talks with the client about the importance of telling the counselor how he honestly feels about what has been happening in his personal life. The counselor also tells the client that he should expect to work on his career and personal issues outside of the counseling sessions. Second, the videotape also emphasizes that the client should not have unrealistically high expectations of the counselor's role. For example, the counselor suggests to the client that she is a skilled practitioner who would guide him through career exploration but would not tell him what to do. On occasion, humor is used to keep the viewer's interest in the videotaped intervention. (See Appendix for full text of the videotaped intervention.)

Participants in the control group viewed a 9-minute videotape of a female alumna speaking with a potential male student about the university. The alumna and potential student were played by the same actors who played the counselor and the client, respectively, in the experimental condition.

Instruments

Counseling expectations. The EAC-B (H. E. A. Tinsley, 1982), a 53-item self-report questionnaire, was used to assess participants' expectations about career counseling. Factor analyses of its 17 subscales have revealed three robust factors for which the EAC-B can be scored: Personal Commitment, Facilitative Conditions, and Counselor Expertise (Hayes & Tinsley, 1989; D. J. Tinsley, Holt, Hinson, & Tinsley, 1991). The Personal Commitment factor measures respondents' expectations about assuming personal responsibility for working hard and achieving progress in counseling, and the Counselor Expertise factor measures respondents' expectations that the counselor will be a skilled practitioner who will be able to help them (Hayes & Tinsley, 1989).

Tokar et al. (1996) reported alphas of .91 for both the Personal Commitment and Counselor Expertise factors in a sample of counseling clinic clients. H. E. A. Tinsley and Westcot (1990) demonstrated that the EAC-B stimulates cognitions about expectations as distinct from preferences and perceptions, thus providing support for the EAC-B's construct validity. In addition, research has demonstrated similar EAC-B scores for students and clients (Hardin & Subich, 1985; Johnson, 1990) and for participants with and without previous counseling experience (Johnson, 1990).

Respondents are asked to imagine an initial career counseling interview and to indicate their expectations about career counseling using a 7-point Likert-type scale; higher scores reflect higher expectations. The response scale was modified slightly for the current study because several previous studies have reported negatively skewed distributions, with most EAC-B scale scores between 4.5 and 6 (e.g., Hardin & Subich, 1985). In the current study, response labels for the values 1,4, and 7 were not true, unsure, and definitely true, respectively, and no response labels corresponded to the values 2, 3, 5, or 6.

Attitudes toward career counseling. Attitudes toward career counseling were assessed using the Attitudes Toward Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS; Rochlen et al., 1999), a 16-item Likert-type questionnaire scored for two factors: Value and Stigma. Higher scores on Value indicate a greater perception of the value of career counseling; higher scores on Stigma indicate a heightened perception of stigma attached to career counseling. Internal consistency estimates ranged from .80 to .90, and test-retest reliabilities after 3 weeks were .80 for both subscales in samples of college students. Convergent validity evidence for both subscales was demonstrated by correlations in expected directions with likelihood of seeking career counseling, general help-seeking attitudes, and counseling stigma (Rochlen et al., 1999).

Procedure

Participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions. In Session 1, all participants completed a demographic data sheet, the EAC-B, and the ATCCS. During Session 2, approximately 2 weeks later, participants viewed the experimental videotape or the control videotape and again completed the EAC-B and the ATCCS. As a manipulation check, participants in the experimental group were asked to recognize the name of the counselor and the client's presenting problem, and participants in the control group were asked to recognize the name of the alumna and the reason for the conversation.

Results

Results of preliminary t tests indicated that pretest EAC-B Personal Commitment and Counselor Expertise scores did not differ on the basis of previous experience in personal counseling or career/academic counseling. Based on these results, data were collapsed across previous counseling experience categories in subsequent analyses. Means, standards deviations, and internal consistency estimates for factor scores on the EAC-B and the ATCCS for the experimental and control groups are presented in Table 1.

Two 2 X 2 repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to test Hypothesis 1: Participants in the experimental condition would have higher EAC-B scores for Personal Commitment and lower scores for Counselor Expertise at posttest than would participants in the control group. We performed one ANOVA for each EAC-B factor (Personal Commitment and Counselor Expertise) as the dependent variable and with group (experimental vs. control) and time (pretest vs. posttest) as the independent variables. Because we performed two ANOVAs, we used a Bonferroni correction in which alpha was adjusted to .025 (.05/2) to control for Type I error. Results of both repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed significant interaction effects, such that at posttest participants in the experimental group had significantly higher scores on Personal Commitment (see Figure 1), F(1, 166) = 21.51, p<.01, and significantly lower scores on Counselor Expertise (see Figure 2), F(1, 166) = 8.16, p<.01, than did participants in the control group.

To further interpret our significant Time X Group interactions, we performed simple effects analyses (i.e., one-way ANOVAs) by group (experimental vs. control) for pretest and posttest Personal Commitment and Counselor Expertise scores. As expected, we found no significant differences by group at pretest on Personal Commitment, F(1, 166) = 1.30, p>.10, or on Counselor Expertise, F(1, 166) = .28, p>.10, whereas we did find significant differences by group at posttest for both Personal Commitment, F(1, 166) = 15.96, p<.01, and Counselor Expertise, F(1, 166) = 5.53, p<.025. Therefore, consistent with Hypothesis 1, participants' expectations about their own personal commitment to counseling increased significantly after the intervention, while their expectations about the counselor's level of expertise decreased significantly.

Four hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to explore Hypothesis 2: Changes in EAC-B factor scores from pretest to posttest of participants in the experimental group would contribute incrementally to posttest ATCCS scores. For each criterion variable (posttest ATCCS Value and Stigma), the appropriate pretest ATCCS factor (Value and Stigma) was entered at Step 1, and the appropriate EAC-B difference score (i.e., difference in Personal Commitment and Counselor Expertise scores from pretest to posttest) was entered at Step 2. As summarized in Table 2, change in Personal Commitment and Counselor Expertise scores did not contribute significantly beyond pretest ATCCS Value and Stigma scores to the prediction of posttest ATCCS Value and Stigma scores, respectively.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Discussion

This study extends the body of literature (e.g., Friedlander & Kaul, 1983; Walsh, 1993) on client expectations about counseling, and its results have immediate implications for the practice of career counseling. Specifically, the effect of a videotaped intervention on undergraduate students' expectations about career counseling was examined using stronger methodological procedures (i.e., use of a manipulation check and random assignment of participants) than had been used in previous studies, and this was done with an instrument (i.e., the EAC-B) that has been validated. Because participants in this study were undergraduate students, as opposed to actual career counseling clients, the results should be interpreted with some degree of caution. Although caution is indicated in assuming that results could be fully generalized to actual clients outside of higher education, a majority of participants did report prior experience with academic, career, or personal counseling. Thus, results should be considered most applicable to undergraduate students and/or clients.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Summary of Results

Results of this research provide support for the primary hypothesis. Specifically, after viewing a videotaped intervention about what to expect in career counseling, participants in the experimental group scored significantly higher on the Personal Commitment factor and significantly lower on the Counselor Expertise factor of the EAC-B compared with participants who watched a control video. That is, participants who watched the videotaped intervention increased their expectations for personal commitment to career counseling and decreased their expectations that the counselor would be an expert who would tell them what to do. Simply providing individuals with direct, concise information about what they could expect from career counseling brought about a desired change. By emphasizing the need for the client to assume personal responsibility for working hard in career counseling and that the career counselor would be a skilled practitioner who would guide the client through counseling without actually telling him or her what to do, this intervention succeeded in raising participants' expectations about their level of personal commitment to counseling and in lowering their expectations about the counselor's level of expertise.

These results are important because counseling practitioners perceive a need for clients' expectations about counseling to be more in line with what actually occurs in counseling if the counseling process is to have the most beneficial effect (H. E. A. Tinsley et al., 1993). Specifically, practitioners perceive clients as most often having unrealistically low expectations about their own level of personal commitment to counseling while having unrealistically high expectations about their counselor's level of expertise. Furthermore, H. E. A. Tinsley et al. (1993) speculated that unrealistically low or high expectations regarding motivation, immediacy, responsibility (all of which contribute to Personal Commitment), and expertise (a marker of Counselor Expertise) may prove more detrimental for those seeking career or educational counseling than for those seeking personal counseling. The demonstrated effect of the videotape intervention on participants' expectations about career counseling suggests that unrealistic expectations about career counseling may indeed be challenged and modified in the desired direction, which, in turn, could result in additional positive effects on career counseling.

The second hypothesis, that changes in EAC-B factor scores of the participants in the experimental condition would contribute incrementally (i.e., beyond pretest ATCCS scores) to their posttest ATCCS scores, was not supported. Because both expectations and attitudes are precounseling variables that have been posited to influence aspects of counseling process and outcome (e.g., Bordin, 1955; Hill, 1991), it seemed reasonable to speculate that desired changes in participants' expectations about their personal commitment to, and their counselor's expertise in, career counseling might affect another variable thought to influence career counseling, namely attitudes toward career counseling. However, the results of this study indicate that although both expectations about and attitudes toward career counseling may have an influence on counseling, they are not necessarily related to each other as we had predicted.

Implications for Practice

Despite potential limitations to external validity, the results of this study have significant implications for counseling, particularly for career counseling. The data show that by simply providing persons with information regarding what they should expect from the counseling experience before counseling even begins, counselors can change, in the desired direction, persons' unrealistic expectations about their need to assume personal responsibility for their counseling and their counselor's level of expertise. A videotaped intervention, such as the one developed for this study, can help in educating persons about what they can realistically expect from career counseling. This may help to minimize potential client dissatisfaction with and premature termination of their counseling. In settings where clients already complete intake forms using a computer, it would be relatively easy to incorporate a videotaped intervention into the information they receive on the computer.

Because of concerns about the generalizability of the results of this study, research will ultimately determine whether or not this type of videotaped intervention is equally powerful in changing expectations of various types of career clients in various types of settings. In the meantime, practitioners can adapt the script to suit the types of clients with whom they work. To be most effective, the demographics (i.e., age, gender, socioeconomic status) of those persons playing the roles of counselor and client in a videotaped intervention should be changed to reflect those of the target population. To hold the attention of particular viewers, it would be helpful to appropriately reference the culture of the targeted populations. For example, some of the analogies in the script that reference pop culture might be changed. In addition, those practitioners who offer bilingual services should also offer a translated version of the videotape.

Because it may be impractical to deliver a videotaped intervention in some settings, practitioners might also consider incorporating the information in written format in a brochure or in the informed consent that clients read prior to the start of counseling. If neither of these options is practical, then counselors should consider incorporating a discussion of client expectations when structuring the counselor--client relationship in the initial session. Counselors can assess client expectations, particularly about the client's need to assume personal responsibility and the expertise they can expect from the counselor. If expectations are unrealistically high or low, the counselor can spend more time and effort to change those expectations in a more productive direction. Nevertheless, it should be noted that counselors must not totally discount their own expertise or imply that the client's responsibility is so great that the client feels hopeless about the counselor's ability to help him or her in the counseling process, lest the client prematurely terminate counseling. In addition, counselors must emphasize the benefits that working hard in counseling will bring to the client and their confidence in the client's ability to do so, lest the client feel discouraged about his or her ability to do so. To summarize, the implications of this study for practice are clear and immediate; assessing and altering unrealistic client expectations about counselor expertise and client responsibility are both possible and very likely beneficial to client outcome.

Appendix

Script for Experimental Video

Oral Instructions to Participants:

You are about to watch a video of a career counselor talking to a student about what he can expect in career counseling. Please pay close attention. You might even imagine yourself in the role of the client as you listen to what the counselor has to say.

Counselor (CO): Good morning, Chris. I'm Dr. Julia Smith and I want to talk to you today about what you can expect from career counseling. Please feel free to call me Julia.

Client (CL): Oh! Okay. Good morning, Dr. Sm ..., I mean, Julia.

(Laughter)

CO: A lot of times, students come in and expect counselors to be the experts who will tell them what to do and frequently offer them advice, but really, we are more like guides who will work with students in a cooperative fashion.

CL: Kind of like, Pocahontas, huh?

(Laughter)

CO: Yes. In addition to calling me Julia, you could also call me Pocahontas! (Laughter) As your counselor, my role is to guide you through the process of solving your problems.

CL: So if you are the guide, what can I expect to be doing?

CO: You can expect to be doing a lot! First, you can expect to talk to me about your problems. I will do some of the talking, but you will be doing most of it. Some students expect their counselors to just read their minds, to somehow automatically know what they are thinking and feeling.

CL: Yeah, kind of like Counselor Troi on Star Trek.

(Laughter)

CO: Right. However, your role requires you to be honest and open in telling me about your problems, what you are thinking, and especially what you are feeling, even when it is difficult or painful. By being honest, taking responsibility for yourself and for your decisions, you can determine what your problems are yourself.

CL: So, I need to tell you what is going on for me, like why I feel like such a loser for changing my major so many times? I really want to find the major that is right for me.

CO: Exactly. I am glad that you just identified that you are having problems finding a major and that that makes you feel badly about yourself. That is another thing you can expect to do in counseling--define your problems and set some goals. So in this case, two problems you have are (1) that you don't have a major and (2) that you feel badly about it. Thus, a natural goal will be for you to find a major.

CL: I like how you did that--saying it that way helps me focus on what I have to do.

CO: Yes, and you can expect me to do that with you--again, guiding you through the process.

CL: Thank you, Pocahontas!

(Laughter)

CO: You're welcome! In counseling, you can expect to learn some new ways of problem solving. And defining the problem and setting goals are the first steps in problem solving.

CL: Uh, huh.

CO: In career counseling, you can also expect to talk openly about things like your interests, your talents and abilities, your values, and your personality. We may do some testing to help you explore these things, but the tests won't give you the answer about what the perfect major or job is for you.

CL: That's what my friend told me--go take the test and it will tell me what to be!

CO: Lots of students think that! Tests, like counselors, won't tell you what to be. Tests and counselors are simply tools to help you figure that out yourself!

CL: Okay.

CO: In addition to being open and honest about your career concerns, it is important that you also tell me about your personal life. For you to solve your career problems, you should tell me about and consider the factors from your personal life that will affect your career concerns. For example, you should tell me about the type of family you grew up in, your cultural background, the way you get along with and relate to other people, your health, and any number of other things that may be specific to you.

CL: Oh, I didn't expect to have to tell you about my personal life. That could get messy. There are some pretty difficult things to talk about in my personal life.

CO: Yeah, I know. Most people's lives haven't been perfect. In counseling, you can expect to talk about things that are painful, at times. And, you may feel like dropping out of counseling because of it. You can expect that. But, it is really important that you keep coming to counseling, even if it is difficult. By doing so, you can expect to get a better understanding of yourself.

CL: Wow! Sounds serious.

CO: It is serious. While we will probably enjoy a few laughs, you can also expect counseling to be serious most of the time. It is also important for you to be honest and open with me about how you are feeling about counseling and how you are feeling about me.

CL: What do you mean?

CO: I'm glad you asked that! Your role is to ask me to explain myself if you don't understand what I'm trying to say. What I mean is, it really helps if you tell me what you are enjoying about counseling, what you are not enjoying, and what is and isn't helpful about counseling. Also, you can expect to have feelings toward me throughout the process. For example, you may feel annoyed, angry, or bored. It is important that you tell me directly how you feel.

CL: For real? Do people really do that?

CO: Yes, they do! Even though it may be uncomfortable to say, "Julia, you are driving me crazy," it is important that you do that, so we can fix it and learn from it. Counselors expect their clients to tell them these things and you can expect to feel safe enough in counseling to say how you really feel.

CL: Okay, I'll do that.

CO: Good. Learning to communicate effectively and to deal with conflict are examples of how you can expect to practice new ways of relating to people in session, in the counselor--client relationship. You can also expect to work on your problems outside of our sessions.

CL: So, now I have to do homework, huh?

(Laughter)

CO: Yes, you can expect to do homework for counseling. For example, you can expect to gather information about careers. You can also expect to practice those new ways of relating to people with others in your life outside of our sessions.

CL: How long can I expect counseling to last?

CO: I am glad that you asked that question--you can expect to ask me questions when you don't know something. How long counseling will last depends on your individual needs, but most students come to counseling for about 6 to 7 sessions. It is also important that you keep coming back to counseling, even if it seems like it won't help at first.

CL: Okay, I'll just trust that it will help in the long run, even if I'm doubting it in the short run.

CO: Excellent. I look forward to working with you as you figure out this thing called "career counseling."

TABLE 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and Internal Consistency Estimates for
Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B) and Attitudes Toward
Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS) Factors

                             Experimental   Control
                               (n = 86)     (n = 82)

Variable                       M     SD     M     SD   IC

Pretest
  EAC-B Personal Commitment  5.60   0.66   5.46  0.90  .92
  EAC-B Counselor Expertise  4.99   1.05   5.08  1.10  .87
  ATCCS Value                3.42   1.06   3.29  0.56  .86
  ATCCS Stigma               1.62   0.60   1.69  0.56  .84

Posttest
  EAC-B Personal Commitment  5.85   0.63   5.39  0.86  .94
  EAC-B Counselor Expertise  4.67   0.99   5.04  1.06  .86
  ATCCS Value                3.54   0.40   3.34  0.57  .88
  ATCCS Stigma               1.57   0.52   1.67  0.53  .83

Note. IC = internal consistency.

TABLE 2

Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Posttest Attitudes
Toward Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS) Factors From Pretest ATCCS
Factors and Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B) Factor
Difference Scores

Dependent Variable              Final [beta]   R   [R.sup.2]

Posttest ATCCS Value
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Value    .54 *        .61  .37
  Step 2: PC Difference score    .08          .62  .38
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 25.91 *

Posttest ATCCS Value
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Value    .54 *        .61  .37
  Step 2: CE Difference score    .03          .62  .38
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 25.21 *

Posttest ATCCS Stigma
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Stigma   .58 *        .65  .43
  Step 2: PC Difference score   -.09          .66  .44
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 32.01 *

Posttest ATCCS Stigma
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Stigma   .56 *        .65  .43
  Step 2: CE Difference score    .04          .66  .43
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 31.41 *

Dependent Variable              [DELTA][R.sup.2]  [DELTA]F

Posttest ATCCS Value
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Value   .37               50.01 *
  Step 2: PC Difference score   .01                1.51
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 25.91 *

Posttest ATCCS Value
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Value   .37               50.01 *
  Step 2: CE Difference score   .00                0.62
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 25.21 *

Posttest ATCCS Stigma
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Stigma  .43               62.49 *
  Step 2: PC Difference score   .01                1.30
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 32.01 *

Posttest ATCCS Stigma
  Step 1: Pretest ATCCS Stigma  .43               62.49 *
  Step 2: CE Difference score   .00                0.62
                                Overall model F(2, 83) = 31.41 *

Note. N = 86. PC = Personal Commitment; CE = Counselor Expertise.
* p < .01.

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Laura A. Whitaker and David M. Tokar, Department of Psychology, University of Akron; Julia C. Phillips, Counseling, Testing and Career Center, University of Akron. Julia C. Phillips and David M. Tokar contributed equally to this project. This article is based on the project completed as a master's thesis waiver by Laura A. Whitaker under the direction of David M. Tokar. The authors thank Ann R. Fischer and Susan I. Hardin for helpful feedback on this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David M. Tokar, Department of Psychology, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-4301 (e-mail: [e-mail]).