The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among clients' counseling expectations, their perception of counselor credibility, and the initial working alliance. One hundred and twenty-one clients seeking personal counseling at 18 university counseling centers in Taiwan completed the revised Expectation about Counseling-Brief Form (Tinsley, 1982) prior to their first counseling session, the Social Influence Inventory (clients' perception of counselor credibility) and the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) after second counseling session. Results indicated that clients' expectations for personal commitment and perception of counselors' credibility of expertness and attractiveness predicted the task and goal dimensions of the working alliance. Clients' expectations for personal commitment and facilitative conditions and perception of counselors' credibility of expertness, attractiveness and trustworthiness predicted the bond dimension of the working alliance. Also, clients' expectations of counseling predicted working alliance indirectly through perceived counselor credibility, the effect size is .42 (p<.05), and clients' expectations of counseling directly predicted working alliance, the effect size is .23 (p<.05). The findings of current study suggested that counselor credibility might mediate the relationship between counseling expectation and initial working alliance. Clinical implications are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among clients' counseling expectations, their perception of counselor credibility, and the initial working alliance. One hundred and twenty-one clients seeking personal counseling at 18 university counseling centers in Taiwan completed the revised Expectation about Counseling-Brief Form (Tinsley, 1982) prior to their first counseling session, the Social Influence Inventory (clients' perception of counselor credibility) and the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) after second counseling session. Results indicated that clients' expectations for personal commitment and perception of counselors' credibility of expertness and attractiveness predicted the task and goal dimensions of the working alliance. Clients' expectations for personal commitment and facilitative conditions and perception of counselors' credibility of expertness, attractiveness and trustworthiness predicted the bond dimension of the working alliance. Also, clients' expectations of counseling predicted working alliance indirectly through perceived counselor credibility, the effect size is .42 (p<.05), and clients' expectations of counseling directly predicted working alliance, the effect size is .23 (p<.05). The findings of current study suggested that counselor credibility might mediate the relationship between counseling expectation and initial working alliance. Clinical implications are discussed.