Therapist’s Gender and Gender Roles: Impact on Attitudes toward Clients in Substance Abuse Treatment

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of therapist’s gender and gender roles on attitudes toward clients. Attitudes toward motivational interviewing were also a focus as MI can be hypothesized to be feminine rather than masculine in nature. The subjects () were Finnish subst...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tytti Artkoski, Pekka Saarnio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2013-01-01
Series:Journal of Addiction
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/591521
Description
Summary:The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of therapist’s gender and gender roles on attitudes toward clients. Attitudes toward motivational interviewing were also a focus as MI can be hypothesized to be feminine rather than masculine in nature. The subjects () were Finnish substance abuse therapists. Their attitudes toward clients were measured using a vignette task. Results indicated that female therapists were significantly more positive toward clients than were male therapists. Although females were significantly more feminine than males, they saw themselves as masculine as the males did. The more feminine the therapist was, the more s/he preferred MI. In the future, an examination of this kind should be combined with measurement of treatment processes and outcomes.
ISSN:2090-7834
2090-7850