WORLDVIEW AND COUNSELING PREFERENCE - AN ANALOG STUDY

A 2 x 3 mixed factorial design was used to study the relationship between a person's dominant worldview (mechanism or organicism) and preference for three counseling approaches (behavioral, rationalist, and constructivist). A total of 90 undergraduate participants completed the Organicism-Mechanism Paradigm Inventory and subsequently evaluated three audiotaped presentations designed to depict counselors who were introducing their counseling approaches to a new client. Results revealed a significant interaction between world view and counseling approach-organicists exhibited a significant self-preference for constructivist counseling, whereas mechanists significantly preferred behavioral counseling for themselves and others. Implications of these findings for counseling and psychotherapy are discussed.