Lawrence H. Gerstein

Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural Counseling Research: Equivalence, Bias, and Translations

Concerns about the cross-cultural validity of constructs are discussed, including equivalence, bias, and translation procedures. Methods to enhance equivalence are described, as are strategies to evaluate and minimize types of bias. Recommendations for translating instruments are also presented. To illustrate some challenges of cross-cultural counseling research, translation procedures employed in studies published in five counseling journals are evaluated. In 15 of 615 empirical articles, a translation of instruments was performed. In 9 studies, there was some effort to enhance and evaluate equivalence between language versions of the measures employed. In contrast, 2 studies did not report using thorough translation and verification procedures, and 4 studies employed a moderate degree of rigorousness. Suggestions for strengthening translation methodologies and enhancing the rigor of cross-cultural counseling research are provided. To conduct cross-culturally valid research and deliver culturally appropriate services, counseling psychologists must generate and rely on methodologically sound cross-cultural studies. This article provides a schema for performing such studies.

Differences in motivations of paid versus nonpaid volunteers.

143 AmeriCorps volunteers (30 men; 113 women) and 127 college student volunteers (43 men; 84 women) completed the Volunteer Functions Inventory to assess whether monetary compensation was associated with choice to volunteer to provide educational services, e.g., tutoring, mentoring. Based on Snyders 1993 theory of functionalism, motives of paid (AmeriCorps participants) and nonpaid (college students) volunteers were expected to differ. It was also predicted that the motives of female and male volunteers would differ. Multivariate analysis of variance confirmed these assumptions. In general, paid male participants reported perceiving numerous benefits associated with volunteering and reported stronger beliefs about such benefits. Female participants reported motives for volunteering, in contrast, which were not linked with monetary compensation. The women reported recognizing the benefits of volunteering and engaging in this activity for egoistic reasons. Their reported motives had little relation to compensation.

Beliefs About Psychological Services (BAPS): development and psychometric properties

A scale to measure attitudes towards seeking psychological help was developed (Beliefs About Psychological Services [BAPS]) and evaluated. This scale was based on items gathered from students, colleagues, and the authors when asked about common positive and negative attitudes toward psychologists and their services. Items were also based on the Fischer and Turner (1970) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Services (ATSPPH) measure. Three studies are reported describing the construction and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the BAPS. The BAPS is an 18-item measure consisting of three subscales: Intent, Stigma Tolerance, and Expertness. Support was found for the reliability and validity of the measure.

Envisioning a Counseling Psychology of the World The Mission of the International Forum

The International Forum (IF) has been a feature of the The Counseling Psychologist for two decades. The current coeditors of the IF offer their observations about why a manuscript might have been rejected in the past, offer suggestions on how to increase a documents potential for being published, and discuss new features of this forum. They also invite authors to contribute articles to the IF on a host of specific topics.

Counseling Psychology's Commitment to Strengths: Rhetoric or Reality?

A positive psychology framework is consistent with counseling psychologys historic claim of focusing on strengths and optimal human functioning. The major articles in this issue of The Counseling Psychologist introduced many innovative, provocative, pragmatic, and useful ideas, strategies, and models related to this framework. For the most part, these articles failed, however, to integrate cultural factors, developmental concepts and interventions, and other strategies (e.g., social justice, psycho-education, prevention, program development, consultation) in their discussion of paradigms grounded in positive psychology. The current author discusses this omission and critiques the positive psychology framework described in these articles. The author presents a few steps to overcome the obstacles hindering the genuine implementation of a strength-based, developmental paradigm of counseling as well.

EFFECTS OF ANXIETY ON SELF-MONITORING

This study investigated how one type of internal cue, anxiety, affects self-monitoring tendencies. Using a pretest-posttest, between-subjects design, with three experimental conditions (control, relaxation, and anxiety), data were collected from 152 participants. Results of an analysis of covariance provided further support for Snyders contention that there are individual differences in self-monitoring behavior. Again, low self-monitors were consistent in their behavior across situations, while high self-monitors were unresponsive to internal cues. While these findings reinforced the idea of construing the self-monitoring construct within a trait by situation paradigm, it appeared that other processes (salience of the internal cue, the relationship of anxiety to the task, task ambiguity, anticipated social sanctions) may have influenced the results. Further research is suggested to explore the influence of such processes on self-monitoring behavior.

Examining Internationalization in U.S. Counseling Psychology Training Programs

The purpose of this study was to gather more information about the process of internationalization in U.S. counseling psychology programs. Participants included 26 training directors and 83 doctoral students, representing 32 of the 63 APA-accredited counseling psychology programs. Results suggested that the presence of international training opportunities did not increase from 2007 to 2010, with the exception that internationalism was increasingly being incorporated into the definition of multiculturalism. Results also suggested that in several areas, training directors and doctoral students differed in their knowledge of whether international training opportunities were present in their programs, and the degree to which they believed such opportunities were integrated. Finally, results suggested that respondents’ attitudes were generally favorable toward internationalization. The implications for counseling psychology training programs as well as recommendations for improving internationalization efforts are discussed.

An anthropological perspective on multicultural counselling

We introduce a more culturally sensitive framework based on anthropology to conceptualize diverse groups. We contend anthropology has much to offer counselling when theorizing about multicultural models of behaviour and potential strategies for prevention, psychoeducation, intervention, social action, and research. Anthropological concepts like thick description, semiotic constructs of culture, and ethnographic depictions of culture are introduced. We also describe how anthropology conceptualizes culture, how it investigates culture, and how it trains students to understand culture. Finally, we highlight a few major theories of multicultural counselling, research strategies typically employed in multicultural counselling, and how counselling students are currently prepared to understand cultural issues and practice effective multicultural counselling. We believe that counselling would be well served to embrace anthropology and shift its lens from an individual microscope to a vibrant, multicultural, kaleidoscope of social patterns. More importantly, cultures throughout the world could potentially benefit from multiculturally competent counsellors who perform as social architects.

Counseling psychology and employee assistance programs: Previous obstacles and potential contributions

In the last two decades, an important new therapeutic delivery system has been emerging to serve the needs of the American workforce. Known as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), these company and community based programs were created to provide mental health services to workers whose job performance is impaired due to substance abuse or other difficulties. Although there are obvious similarities between the mission espoused by EAPs and traditions of the counseling psychology profession, many members of our discipline have only recently become involved in these programs. This paper discusses various reasons why counseling psychologists have not become involved with EAPs. It also presents some ways that counseling psychologists may contribute to these programs and it highlights the similarities in the philosophies and the activities of EAP and counseling psychology practitioners and scientists. Additionally, some suggestions for how to prepare counseling psychologists for entrance into the EAP profession are offered. Finally, a brief research agenda designed to guide counseling psychologists who are interested in the study of EAP related variables is presented.

Icelanders’ and U.S. Nationals’ Expectations about Counseling The Role of Nationality, Sex, and Holland’s Typology

This study compared counseling expectations of Icelandic and U.S. college students, investigated counseling expectations as a function of sex, and explored the relationship between counseling expectations and Holland’s typology. It was discovered that the Icelandic students expected greater expertise from the counselor than did the U.S. students and the U.S. students expected the counseling conditions to be more facilitative than did the Icelandic students. Also, women, as compared with men, expected counseling to be more facilitative of change and expected to be more personally committed to the counseling process, whereas men expected more counselor expertise. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between counseling expectations and Holland’s Social and Realistic personality types for the U.S. students and Holland’s Social type for the Icelandic students.