Differences in Characteristics Preferred by College Students for Academic Advisors,Vocational Counselors,and Psychotherapists: A Preliminary Report

144 college students rated an academic advisor, a vocational counselor, or a psychotherapist on 10 characteristics and subsequently rated each of the three types of counseling situations on how “personal” they perceived each to be. Sex of experimenter and sex of subject were varied systematically. Female subjects when tested by a male experimenter preferred a psychotherapist be more religious than an academic advisor or vocational counselor. Subjects viewed psychotherapy as a more personal situation than academic advising or vocational counseling.