Social influence research in counseling: A review and critique.

Abstract

This review concerns recent research on counseling as a social influence process. Studies published since 1981 are presented in two groups, according to whether they pertain to the first or second stage of Strong's (1968) influence model, and within these groups, according to the type of methodology used (interview and noninterview analogue studies and field studies) and the variables of interest (counselor, message, and client variables, and combinations of these). Then, the social influence literature as a whole is critically examined as to its methodological and theoretical adequacy. Major criticisms include the low external validity of the research, the disproportionate emphasis of the research on counselor perceptions rather than influence itself, and the weak connection between research and theory. Solutions are proposed for particular methodological problems, and recommendations are made for further research and theory development. The goal of counseling is to help people solve problems and cope with life's difficulties (Fretz, 1982;Heppner, 1978) or, in other words, to help people change. Questions about the change process guide the work of counseling practitioners and researchers alike. For practitioners it is a practical question: "What can I do to help this client to change?" But the scientific A Review of Recent Social Influence ResearchWe thank Monica M. Menne for her tabulations on some of the studies, Rebecca M. Nerison for her editorial assistance, and Joan Rosenberg for her stimulating observations about the influence process in counseling.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to P. Paul Heppner, 210 McAlester Hall, Psychology Department, University of Missouri--Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 6521 I. version of the question differs only in its generality and scope: "What can counselors do to help a wide variety of clients change?" Inquiry into the principles and processes of change is at the heart of counseling research and, as these questions show, vital to its link with practice.Social influence theory is one attempt to answer questions about the change process in counseling. Though influence has long been recognized--and denied--as an important part of counseling and psychotherapy (see Pepinsky & Pepinsky, 1954), formal articulation of the social influence point of view probably began with the publication of Frank's (1961) Persuasion and Healing. Research on the influence process in counseling began in the 1960s, undoubtedly stimulated by the attitude change Zeitgeist in social psychology, but also by Journal of Counseliog Psychology, 1989, Vol, 36, No. 3, 365-387 Copyright 1988 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0022-0167/89/$00.75 365 366 P. PAUL HEPPNER AND CHARLES D. CLAIBORN such writers as Levy (1963), Goldstein, HeUer, andSechrest (1966), andStrong (1968), all of whom advocated a connection between social psychological and psychotherapeutic research. The rise of social influence theory reflected a disenchantment with the crude outcome research of the ti...

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