This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hayslip, B. Articles by Shore, R. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Accuracy of Counselor Age Estimates and Satisfaction With Counseling Among Younger and Older Women

University of North Texas

Lawrence J. Schneider

University of North Texas

R. Jerald Shore

University of North Texas

Ninety-one younger (M = 26 years) and 91 older (M = 69 years) women serving as pseudoclients in a larger study were asked to estimate the counselor's age in age-similar and age-dissimilar counselor-client dyads. Analyses revealed that although both age groups estimated the ages of younger counselors with similar accuracy, older counselors were inaccurately judged to be substantially older than they really were by the younger pseudoclients. This was not true for older pseudoclients. These findings suggest that the perception of the chronological age of the counselor does vary systematically by client age. In light of the relationship between accuracy of estimated age and both perceived counselor characteristics and satisfaction with counseling, these findings also suggest that a client's estimate of a counselor's age may influence her satisfaction with help, particularly when the client is younger and the counselor is older.

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Vol. 12, No. 1, 100-113 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/073346489301200109


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?