Psychotherapy preferences as a function ofss' conceptual systems

Abstract

Examined the relationship between conceptual systems and preferences for behavioral or client-centered approaches to therapy. One hundred and forty college students were administered measures of their conceptual systems and of their therapy preferences; the latter included descriptions of the two therapies. Two weeks later, they were exposed to audiotaped excerpts of one of the two therapies and afterward indicated again their preferences between the two therapies. It was hypothesized that therapy preferences would be distributed nonrandomly across conceptual systems, with a greater proportion of persons in the more abstract systems who preferred client-centered approaches than in the more concrete conceptual systems. This hypothesis was supported at the .001 level. It also was found that therapy preferences were relatively stable, with very few Ss who actually changed their perferences after they had listened to the demonstration tapes.

Belief systems and attitudes toward the death penalty and other punishments

“…The subjects were 440 students m introductory psychology courses at three Colorado universities Each subject was classified as representing predominantly one ofthe four behef systems, bemg assigned to the more (most) dominant system when more than one system was indicated The distnbution ofthe subjects by dominant system was Extrapersonalism, 228 (52%), Cynicism, 74 (17%), Egoism, 104 (24%), and Contextualism, 34 (8%) This distribution is highly similar to most previous ones (Harvey, 1966) Instruments 1 The "This I Believe" Test (TIB) Wntten responses to this quesbonnaire, which has been used m at least 100 studies (e g , Batres, 1984, Chase, 1983, Creaves, 1972, Harvey, 1966, Harvey & Felknor, 1970, Knudson & Carskadon, 1978, Lutwak & Hennessey, 1982, Rosen, 1977, provided the basis fw classifying the subjects into behef systems as well as ratmg them on tl^ dimensions of Openness, Evaluabveness, and Complexity The TIB requests the respoidrait to complete m a mmimum of two sentences the f^rase, 'This I beheve about _ ," the blank being replaced successively by CHie of 10 referents (e g , "the American way of bfe," "religioii," "mam^e," and "friendship") To tacih.ta.te candid and unrehearsed responses, a mild degree of stress is induced by a two-mmute bme Umit for response to each referent Extrapersonalism is inferred form TIB complebons that manifest such charactenstics as absolubsm of truth, high evaluabvei^ss, frequent p-escnpbve and IHX>scnpbve statements, high rehgiosity, and a strcmg identification with coaveabcmalism Cjmicism is mdicated by evaluabveness, distrust, and hostility tovfard rehgKHis and other insbtubcms, fear of self-exposure, and avoidai^e of m-terdepeiKlence with others Egoism is reflected in claims of unusually high perscmal causabon, uiKsnbcsilly posibve statements about pecqde, nurturance. sympathy, and humanism Contextualism is implied by a high degree of novelty, contmgency of thought, lnformabonally loaded and integrated expressions, low cynicism, and the absence of extreme and polanzed judgments TTie TIB was also scored on a 7-point scale for Openness, Evaluabveness, and Complexity according to their characterizations as noted above Systems and dimensional ratings were each performed independently by two separate judges expenenced m sconng the TIB The lnterjudge reliability for sconng by systems was 88 and for sconng by dimensions was 91, the approximate values obtained m previous studies 2 Conservattsm-Liberaltsm Scale (CLS) This measure of the fifth predictor vanable was an adaptabon ofa scale by the same name develtqied by Wilson and associates (Wilson, 1973) It requested the respondent to answer either "Yes" or "No" to mdicate his or her approval or disapproval with a Lst of 35 acts, groups, or states of afi^rs such as "evolution theory," "racially mixed mamages," and "chaperones " Because the onginal scale was developed on Bntish subjects, some substitubons such as "women pnests" and "prayer in the pubhc schools" were made for the earlier items to render them more consistently relevant and mterestmg to Amencan respfflidents 3 Capital Purushment Scale (CPS) This scale consisted of 36 items either justifymg capital pumshment or depicbng it as baseless Subjects indicated on a 5-point scale ("Completely agree" to "Completely disagree") their degree of agreement or disagreement w...…”

The influence of belief systems on subjects' perceptions of empathy, warmth, and genuineness.

“…Belief System Theory, a cognitive personality theory developed by Harvey, Hunt, & Schroder (1961), holds promise for better understanding how clients process information within the context of the therapeutic environment. Although the belief system construct has been utilized on a limited basis in counseling research (Holloway & Wampold, 1986; Knudson & Carskadon, 1978; Malkiewick & Merluzzi, 1980; Stein & Stone, 1978), it has been used extensively in social psychology to conceptualize how subjects construct and interpret aspects of their environment (Harvey, 1966, 1986).…”