A-B distinction in a sample of prominent psychotherapists

Asked 134 prominent psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and behavior therapists to fill out the Whitehorn-Betz A-B therapist scale and comment on their possible differential effectiveness in treating schizoid-schizophrenic vs neurotic patients. Psychometric analysis of the 95 responses disclosed that their scale scores were reliable, distributed comparably to other therapists and collegiate males, and denotative of 2 correlated interest-aptitude dimensions. Professionals typed as A's or B's showed a greater reluctance to accept the research-generated implications of their A-B status than Ss whose scores fell into neither of these categories. Although data did not provide strong evidence for a relationship between A-B scale scores and theoretical orientation, the distribution of scores did suggest that B therapists desire and seek more complex and exciting sensory-cognitive inputs during therapy hours than A therapists. (30 ref)