Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Psychotherapy--Public opinion;
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the public acceptability of psychotherapy. Three major models of psychotherapy were examined: behavior therapy, psychodynamic insight-oriented therapy, and client-centered therapy. The mode of presentation was manipulated based on previous acceptability research which has employed diverse types of stimulus materials. Written, audiotaped, and videotaped dialogues between a client and a therapist were used in this study. The sex of the subject was also of interest in this study. It was hypothesized: (1) that based on previous research, client-centered therapy would be perceived less favorably than either behavior therapy or psychodynamic therapy, (2) that the video mode of presentation would be perceived less favorably than the audio or written modes, and (3) that females would respond more favorably to the client and the therapy situation than males. Subjects were 270 undergraduate students (135 female and 135 male). The design consisted of a 2 (sex of subject) x 3 (psychotherapeutic orientation) x 3 (mode of presentation) factorial design. Acceptability was examined across three dimensions: the rater's perceived acceptability of therapy (i.e., plausibility, effectiveness, willingness to participate, compatibility with personal values, favorability towards the therapy situation, and sympathy towards the client), the rater's perceived acceptability of the therapist (i.e., weak-strong, bad-good, passive-active, cold-warm, indifferent-concerned, and unsuccessful-successful), and the rater's perception of stimulus realism. A Likert-type format was used for each of the measures (e.g., l=low acceptability and 7=high acceptability). Each subject completed a Personality Theory Questionnaire prior to viewing the stimulus materials. The Personality Theory Questionnaire yielded scores for behavioral, psychoanalytic, and humanistic points of view which were used as covariates for the behavioral, psychodynamic, and client-centered orientations respectively. A 2 x 3 x 3 analysis of covariance was done for the plausibility, effectiveness, willingness to participate, compatibility, and passive-active measures. A 2 x 3 x 3 analysis of variance was completed for each of the other measures, After completing the Personality Theory Questionnaire, subjects were presented with an audio, video, or written presentation of a college female suffering from depression as treated by one of the previously mentioned psychotherapeutic orientations. Following the presentation subjects completed the acceptability measures. Examination of the therapist quality measures revealed that the psychodynamic therapist was rated most favorably followed in order by the behavior therapist and client-centered therapist. An examination of the therapy measures indicated no difference between the psychodynamic and behavioral therapies with both being rated more favorably than client-centered therapy. Subjects were able to differentiate among the therapies in terms of acceptability and, as predicted, the behavioral and psychodynamic orientations were found to be more acceptable than client-centered therapy. Females responded more favorably than males as predicted. In no instances did mean male ratings exceed mean female ratings. As predicted, the written and audio modes of presentation produced more favorable ratings than the video mode. The mode of presentation had its greatest impact on the therapist quality measures. The written mode produced the most favorable ratings followed in order by the audio mode and video mode.
Year of Submission
1982
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Psychology
First Advisor
Francisco Barrios
Second Advisor
John W. Somervill
Third Advisor
Andrew R. Gilpin
Date Original
1982
Object Description
1 PDF file (98 leaves)
Copyright
©1982 Mark A. Etscheidt
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Etscheidt, Mark A., "Public Acceptability of Psychotherapy: The Effects of Sex, Psychotherapeutic Orientation and Mode of Presentation" (1982). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2594.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2594
Comments
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