Effects of Client Expectation for Counseling Success, Client-Counselor Worldview Match, and Client Adherence to Asian and European American Cultural Values on Counseling Process With Asian Americans

After assessing their expectation for counseling success, adherence to Asian cultural values, and adherence to European American cultural values, 88 Asian American volunteer clients with personal concerns engaged in single-session counseling with 1 of 11 female counselors who either matched or mismatched the client's worldview. Clients in the worldview match condition perceived stronger client-counselor working alliance and counselor empathy than those in the mismatch condition. Client adherence to Asian cultural values was positively related to client-counselor working alliance. Client adherence to European American values was positively associated with client-counselor working alliance and session depth. In addition, an interaction effect was observed such that high expectation for counseling success and strong adherence to European American cultural values were associated with increased perception of counselor empathy.