Self-consciousness and theoretical orientation as mediators of therapist expectancies in psychotherapy

Abstract

Correlates of psychotherapy process expectations of 150 psychologists were examined. Transcripts of actual psychotherapeutic sessions from each of the three main schools (psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural) were used as stimuli to generate a ‘jargon-free’ self-evaluation index of process expectations. Three independent variables were selected: (a) subject self-consciousness; (b) specification or not of the target therapist theoretical affiliation; and (c) subject theoretical affiliation. These variables were arranged in a 2×2×6×3 experimental design. Results showed that when the theoretical orientation of the target therapist was specified in the vignettes, highly self-conscious therapists endorsed, irrespective of their own affiliation, the behaviour of the psychodynamically-oriented therapist. Under all other conditions, no significant differences were observed. The results are discussed in terms of methodological advantages of adopting a more direct, naturalistic approach to our study of similarities and differences between psychotherapists' perceptions of their work.