Individualism and psychotherapy: Are psychologists leading or following individualilstic trends?

Abstract

There has been much recent concern about the promotion of individualism in psychotherapy. This study assessed wheather psychologists differed in their preference for individualism from univerisy professors and students, in terms of how they view individuals' difficulties. The 289 respondents were presented with six clinical vignettes, and chose one of the four theoretically based perpectives of the person's difficulties. There were two individualisticn responses and two responses emphasizing social embeddedness and responsibility. The results indicated that there were no differences among the predominantly individualistic perpectives of the psychologists, the university professors, and evening school students. The respondents were equally individualistic with socially integrated and socially alienated clients which suggests that an individualistic bias was present in all three Groups.