Showing papers in "Journal of Counseling Psychology in 1978"

Prevalence, distribution, and correlates of math anxiety in college students.

Abstract: While counseling psychologists are becoming increasingly involved in the treatment of math anxiety, little is yet known about its prevalence, nature, or effects. The present study, an investigation of factors related to the prevalence and intensity of math anxiety in college students, utilized 652 subjects obtained from two math courses and one psychology course at a large midwestern university. Results indicated that math anxiety occurs frequently among college students and that it is more likely to occur among women than among men arid among students with inadequate high school math backgrounds. Higher levels of math anxiety were related to lower mathematics achievement test scores, higher levels of test anxiety, and higher levels of trait anxiety. Implications for the identification and treatment of math-anxious students and for the process of educational/vocational counseling are discussed.

Eliminating cultural oppression in counseling: toward a general theory

Abstract: A general working theory of how raceand culture-specific factors interact in such a way as to produce people with differing world views is proposed. Empirical and clinical data are reviewed that indicate two psychological concepts—locus of control and locus of responsibility—may be useful in explaining how world views are formed and their consequent dynamics. Four world views are identified: (a) internal locus of control internal locus of responsibility, (b) external locus of control internal locus of responsibility, (c) external locus of control external locus of responsibility, and (d) internal locus of control external locus of responsibility. It is proposed that the internal locus of control and responsibility world view is most characteristic of western counseling approaches and assumptions. Cultural oppression occurs when this world view is blindly imposed upon the culturally different client. Implications of each world view are discussed with respect to counseling in the United States.

Spiritual values and death anxiety: Implications for counseling with terminal cancer patients.

Abstract: Death fear as a function of discomfort level, previous experience with death, and religiosity among indigent cancer patients in a county general hospital was investigated. The patients were those participants in the Cancer Rehabilitation Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas who were judged closest to death. The Allport Religious Orientation Scale, Discomfort Indices, and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale were administered to each patient. Patients also participated in a .structured interview which examined death fear at the conscious and imagery (unconscious) levels, religious values, and support systems. The Death Anxiety Scale was also administered to a standardization sample of outpatients in the Eye Clinic of the same hospital. Results indicate that these patients depend strongly on perceived strength of religious beliefs and integral religious values in their coping with imminent death. Also highly associated with minimal or low fear of death was previous experience with a dying person with whom one had a close relationship. The mean Death Anxiety Scale score for the cancer patients was significantly lower than that obtained for the standardization population. These findings reveal the various sources of support that are very important to this population and that are suggestive of untapped resources available as appropriate intervention avenues. Because human beings are gifted with the capacity to imagine the future and to relate to this future through the use of symbolic language, awareness of inevitable death becomes an important element in a broad base of attitudes and behaviors. This is particulary true for the fatally ill individual who is continuously confronted by the reality of death. The treatment of the dying patient, however, has been systematically

Verbal and nonverbal communication of facilitative conditions

Abstract: It is becoming increasingly apparent that nonverbal communication in the counseling process is of critical importance in furthering our understanding of the conditions under which counseling is effective. Within the past decade nonverbal communication has gained increasing prominence as an object of study; within the past 5 years the counseling literature has begun to reflect the importance of the total communication process to the texture and outcome of the counseling relationship. Defined in a rather broad fashion, nonverbal behaviors which have been demonstrated to have measurable impact on the counseling process include eye contact, trunk lean, distance, body orientation, movement, facial expression, vocal intonation, gestures, and selected features of the spatial environment (Broekman & Moller, 1973; Chaikin, Derlega, & Miller, 1976; Dinges & Oetting, 1972; Ekman & Friesen, 1968; Fretz, 1966; Graves & Robinson, 1976; Haase, 1970; Haase & DiMattia, 1970, 1976; Haase & Tepper, 1972; Hackney, 1974; Lacrosse, 1975; Lee, Zingle, Patterson, Ivey, & Haase, 1976; Smith, 1975; Stone & Morden, 1976; Strahan & Zytowski, 1976; Sweeney & Cottle, 1976. A comprehensive review of much of the evidence relating nonverbal behavior to counseling can be found in Gladstein (1974). The evidence which relates directly to counseling, as well as the more general literature in nonverbal communication, suggests that there exists a delicate balance between the verbal and nonverbal channels of communication of affect and attitude. Haase and Tepper (1972) found that the ratio of nonverbal to verbal message variance was 2:l in the judged communication of empathy. Mehrabian (1968) indicates that as much as 55% of the communicational significance of the message is nonverbal; similar ratios have been reported by Birdwhistell (1970) and Argyle, Alkema, and Gilmour (197 1). It seems fairly clear that the balance between verbal and nonverbal cues in the communication process is critical for the perceived impact of the overall message. As early as 1965 Argyle and Dean demonstrated that shifting the balance between verbal and nonverbal channels alters the perception and the communicational significance of the message. Inasmuch as the counseling process is so heavily rooted in a complex communicational context, an understanding of the balance and interplay between verbal and nonverbal cues in the relationship becomes important. Of the many variables which have received attention in the counseling literature, the facilitative conditions proposed by Rogers (1951, 1957) have achieved wide acceptance in counseling practice. These conditions have been noted to be essential to the quality of the relationship; research evidence suggests that helping relationships depend heavily on these conditions in myriad forms (Bergin & Garfield, 1971; Carkhuff, 1971). Haase and Tepper (1972) have shown that the communication of empathy is heavily dependent on the verbal message but not to the exclusion of the

Effects of a Rational-Emotive Mental Health Program on Poorly Achieving, Disruptive High School Students.

Abstract: The effectiveness of a rational-emotive mental health program was examined. Eleventh and 12th-grade high-risk and failure- and misconduct-prone black and Hispanic high school students (N = 40) were given five weekly sessions of rational-emotive education over a full semester. The dependent measures were grade point average, incidents of disruptive behavior, and class cuts. Comparisons were made with alternate treatment and no-treatment controls. The results revealed differential effects among the treatment groups, with the rational-emotive groups showing greatest improvement on all dependent variables over an extended period of time. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. The high failure and drop-out rate of secondary school students in economically disadvantaged areas has been noted with grave concern by investigators interested in this problem (Taber, 1963). Students demoralized by continuing poor achievement discover after prematurely leaving school that problems are compounded as failure to obtain a high school diploma decreases the chances for obtaining employment. Consequently, an individual's likelihood for involvement in delinquent activities is heightened (Glasser, 1965). Although studies with drop-out-prone secondary school students are numerous (e.g., Bates, 1968; Gilliland, 1968; McGowan, 1968), most have been either unsuccessful or poorly designed (Anderson, 1969). In considering approaches to decrease school failure among high-risk students, we decided to initiate a systematic cognitive/behavioral group therapy that had been successful with other maladaptive behaviors (Karst & Trexler, 1970; Sharma, 1970; Meichenbaum, Note 1). In particular, rational-emotive therapy, a system based on the educational model and emphasizing the teaching and application of self-realization rules, seemed to be ideally suited as an intervention strategy that might