Journal of Counseling Psychology Copyright 2004 by the American Psychological Association

2004, Vol. 51, No. 2, 158 –167 0022-0167/04/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-0167.51.2.158

Effects of Counseling Style and Client Adherence to Asian Cultural Values

on Counseling Process With Asian American College Students

Lisa C. Li Bryan S. K. Kim

University of Maryland University of California, Santa Barbara

This study investigated the effects of counseling style and client adherence to Asian cultural values on
career-focused counseling process with Asian American college students. Fifty-two clients were classi-
fied as having either high or low adherence to Asian values and assigned to a counseling session with a
European American female counselor, who employed either a directive or a nondirective style. Imme-
diately following the session, clients completed measures of counselor credibility, counselor empathic
understanding, client– counselor working alliance, session depth, and counselor cross-cultural counseling
competence. Clients in the directive counseling condition rated the counselor as being more empathic and
cross-culturally competent, and reported stronger client– counselor working alliance and greater session
depth than did those clients in the nondirective condition.

One way of being a culturally competent counselor is to possess
knowledge about how various counseling styles affect the coun-
seling process with culturally different clients. Past studies with
Asian American college students have suggested that the use of a
directive counseling style is perceived more positively than a
nondirective style. More specifically, Atkinson, Maruyama, and
Matsui (1978) found that Asian American college students pre-
ferred a directive approach that was used by Asian American
counselors. In Atkinson and Matsushita (1991), Japanese Ameri-
can college-aged participants gave the highest counselor credibil-
ity ratings to a Japanese counselor who was directive and the
lowest to the Japanese counselor who was nondirective. Similarly,
Exum and Lau (1988) found higher counselor credibility ratings
for directive counseling style than nondirective counseling style
with their sample of foreign college students from Hong Kong.
However, although these results suggest important information
about Asian American college students’ preference for counseling
style, the methodology from which the results were obtained may
limit their validity and usefulness to actual counseling sessions.
Previous studies used audiovisual analogue designs, which did not
use actual counseling sessions but relied on the ability of partici-
pants to approximate the role of clients on the basis of their
exposure to transcripts, audiotapes, or videotape. In addition, the
use of these types of limited exposure also raises questions about
whether the counseling styles were fully operationalized in these
Lisa C. Li, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland; Bryan
S. K. Kim, Department of Education, University of California, Santa
Barbara.
This manuscript was based on a master’s thesis by Lisa C. Li at the
University of Maryland, under the direction of Bryan S. K. Kim. We thank
Sharika Bhattacharya, Sarah Bashir, Claire Agustin, Angela Newby, and
Alison Newby for assisting with this study.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lisa C.
Li, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
20742-4411. E-mail: lli@psyc.umd.edu
158
studies. Pope-Davis, Liu, Toporek, and Brittan-Powell (2001),
after a review of extant empirical literature on multicultural coun-
seling, pointed out that studies are needed in which persons in real
counseling sessions are used.
Critical to understanding how best to approach counseling with
any group is an understanding of within-group differences (Atkin-
son, Morten, & Sue, 1998). For Asian Americans, an aspect of
within-group differences is reflected in their enculturation level
(Kim & Abreu, 2001). Enculturation represents the degree to
which one adheres to the values, behavior, knowledge, and identity
of the indigenous culture (e.g., Asian culture for Asian Ameri-
cans). In terms of values enculturation, D. W. Sue and Sue (1999)
suggested that clients’ adherence to Asian cultural values can play
a significant role in counseling process and outcome. These au-
thors pointed out that clients who adhere highly to Asian values
might experience stigma about seeking help and be less willing to
share personal problems than individuals with lower adherence to
Asian values. Two studies have investigated the role of Asian
cultural values adherence in career-focused counseling with Asian
American college students (Kim & Atkinson, 2002; Kim, Li, &
Liang, 2002). Kim and Atkinson (2002) found that clients who had
high adherence to Asian cultural values evaluated Asian American
counselors to be more empathic and credible than did Asian
American clients with low adherence to Asian values. Clients who
had low adherence to Asian values judged European American
counselors to be more empathic than did their counterparts with
high adherence to Asian values. Kim et al. (2002) found that
clients with high adherence to Asian cultural values perceived
increased counselor empathic understanding and stronger client–
counselor working alliance than did clients with low adherence to
Asian values when they received services from a European Amer-
ican counselor.
Although these findings are interesting and informative, the
possible moderating role of counseling style on the relationship
between client adherence to Asian values and counseling process
has not been studied. Kim, Atkinson, and Umemoto (2001) sug-
 COUNSELING STYLE AND ASIAN VALUES
gested that clients with high adherence to Asian cultural values, in
comparison with clients with low adherence to Asian values, might
rate higher a counselor who uses a directive counseling style.
Values such as deference to authority figures may cause clients
adhering to Asian cultural values to look for their counselors to set
the structure of the session and offer suggestions for resolving the
problems.
The present study sought to expand the previous research in two
ways. First, using a quasi-intervention analogue design, the study
sought to approximate a live counseling session, and thereby
increase the external validity of the findings. Additionally, we
attempted to fully operationalize the directive and nondirective
counseling styles by having counseling graduate students help
define these constructs. Second, participants evaluated as having
either high or low adherence to Asian cultural values were as-
signed to receive either a directive or nondirective counseling
strategy. It was hypothesized that participants in the high-
adherence group who received directive counseling would rate the
session and counselor more highly than participants in the low-
adherence group. It was also expected that participants in the
high-adherence group who received nondirective counseling con-
dition would rate the session and counselor less highly than par-
ticipants in the low-adherence group.
On the basis of the social influence theory (Strong, 1968) and
conceptualization of multicultural counseling competence (e.g.,
D. W. Sue et al., 1982), the following dependent variables were
chosen: counselor credibility, counselor empathic understanding,
client– counselor working alliance, session depth, and counselor
cross-cultural competence. The social influence theory suggests
that client perceptions of counselor credibility, which is influenced
by client perceptions of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and
trustworthiness, lead to client change. Related to the concept of
counselor credibility are the three other dependent variables as-
sessed in this study: counselor empathic understanding, working
alliance, and session depth. Specifically, counselor credibility is
influenced by the counselor’s ability to be empathic, create a
viable working alliance, and conduct a session that is meaningful
to the client. In addition, D. W. Sue et al. (1982) suggested that
with ethnic minority clients, counselor cross-cultural competence
might influence client perceptions of counselor credibility.
The present study used career-focused counseling. Leong (1986,
1995) pointed out the need for more career-related research among
Asian Americans. However, it should be noted that career coun-
seling and personal counseling share many similarities and it may
be difficult to distinguish between the two types of counseling
(Blustein & Spengler, 1995). Although we acknowledge this over-
lap, we chose to have career issues as the focus for the counseling
sessions because career choice is a common concern for college
students, the participants in this study.
Method
Participants
Volunteer clients. Volunteer clients were 52 (16 men, 36 women)
Asian American students at a large mid-Atlantic university. They ranged in
age from 18 to 27 years, with a mean of 18.94 (SD ⫽ 1.61). Their academic
levels were as follows: 33 (63%) 1st-year students, 6 (12%) sophomores,
8 (15%) juniors, and 5 (10%) seniors. Thirteen (25%) were Asian Indian,
11 (21%) were Chinese, 11 (21%) were Korean, 5 (10%) were Filipino, 5
159
(10%) were multiracial, 3 (6%) were Japanese, 3 (6%) were other Asian
ethnicity, and 1 (1%) was Cambodian. In terms of generation since immi-
gration, 27 (52%) were first generation, 20 (39%) were second generation,
1 (2%) was third generation, and 1 (2%) was fifth generation; 3 (6%)
reported other generation statuses. Among the first-generation group, the
number of years since immigration ranged from 0.5 to 20, with a mean of
8.95 (SD ⫽ 5.74). Four participants indicated that they had previous
counseling experience, with the duration ranging between 1 and 3 sessions.
Counselors. Seven European American female counselors and one
Hispanic American counselor with visible Caucasian features at a large
mid-Atlantic university served as counselors in this study; Lisa C. Li also
served as a counselor. Six were students in a counseling psychology
doctoral program, one was a second year master’s student in school
counseling, and one had a master’s degree in counseling with an advanced
graduate studies certificate and was currently employed as a career coun-
selor. Their ages ranged from 23 to 33 years, with a mean of 27.71 (SD ⫽
3.95). All had taken at least one counseling practicum course and had
between 1 and 3 years of counseling experience (M ⫽ 1.43, SD ⫽ 0.79).
Three counselors had no career counseling experience, whereas four had
between 6 months and 10 years of career counseling experience (M ⫽ 2.21,
SD ⫽ 3.72). Counselors, except Lisa C. Li, received a $10 gift certificate
for their participation.
Session videotape raters. Three female Asian American (1 Pakistani, 1
Asian Indian, 1 Filipino) and 2 biracial female Korean European American
undergraduate students served as videotape raters. One was a sophomore,
1 was a junior, and 3 were seniors, and all were second-generation
Americans.
Experimental Design
Design. The present study used a quasi-intervention analogue method
(Gelso & Fretz, 2001) with two independent variables, client adherence to
Asian cultural values and counseling style (directive and nondirective), and
five dependent variables: counselor credibility, counselor empathic under-
standing, client– counselor working alliance, session depth, and counselor
cross-cultural competence. Upon arrival to the session, clients were clas-
sified as having either high or low adherence to Asian values and then
assigned to either directive or nondirective counseling conditions. Imme-
diately following the session, clients completed measures of dependent
variables.
Power analysis. For multiple regression analysis and a power equal to
.80 with an alpha level equal to .05, an a priori power analysis indicated
that a sample size of 33 was needed to detect a large effect size (f2 ⫽ .35;
Cohen, 1988) and a sample of 77 to detect a medium effect size (f2 ⫽ .15;
Cohen, 1988). A large effect size was expected on the basis of similar past
studies. Kim and Atkinson (2002) achieved a large effect size with sessions
that were only 30 min in length. Kim et al. (2002) achieved a large effect
size with 79 participants using three independent variables, whereas the
present study used only two. Also, training of counselors and using a script
for the sessions were expected to enhance the salience of the experimental
conditions to participants, thus increasing the likelihood of large differ-
ences between those in the directive condition and those in the nondirective
condition.
Measures
Establishing Asian cultural values groups. To assign participants to
either the high- or low-adherence to Asian cultural values group, they
completed the 36-item Asian Values Scale (AVS; Kim, Atkinson, & Yang,
1999) upon arrival at the counseling clinic. The instrument uses a 7-point
Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). To
establish AVS’s construct validity, Kim et al. used a nationwide survey of
Asian American psychologists and focus group discussions and a survey of
Asian American psychology doctoral students to generate a set of 112
160 LI AND KIM
initial items. Among these items, 36 items that were more highly endorsed
by first-generation Asian Americans than by European Americans were
retained. Exploratory factor analysis of the AVS yielded the following six
Asian values dimensions: conformity to norms, filial piety, family recog-
nition through achievement, humility, collectivism, and emotional self-
control. However, the scores on the six factors were found to lack internal
reliability to justify their use as separate subscales; hence, Kim et al.
recommended the use of the total score. The use of the total score also is
supported by Kim, Yang, Atkinson, Wolfe, and Hong (2001), who found
via confirmatory factor analyses that the AVS was better represented by a
hierarchical factor structure, consisting of a second-order Asian values
construct and the six first-order factors, than by single-order factor struc-
tures. Evidence of AVS’s convergent validity was obtained through factor
structural relationships between the AVS, the Individualism-Collectivism
scale (Triandis, 1995), and the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Accultura-
tion scale (SL-ASIA; Suinn, Rickard-Figueroa, Lew, & Vigil, 1987).
Evidence of discriminant validity was obtained in the low correlation
between the AVS scores, which reflect values of enculturation, and SL-
ASIA scores, which reflect behavioral acculturation. In terms of reliability,
Kim et al. (1999) reported coefficient alphas of .81 and .82 and 2-week
coefficient of stability of .83. Kim and Atkinson (2002) and Kim et al.
(2002) reported coefficient alphas of .86 and .85, respectively; the data
from the present study yielded a coefficient alpha of .86.
Dependent measures. To evaluate the effectiveness of the counseling
session, the following dependent measures were used: (a) Counselor Ef-
fectiveness Rating Scale (CERS; Atkinson & Carskaddon, 1975; Atkinson
& Wampold, 1982); (b) Empathic Understanding subscale of the Relation-
ship Inventory (EUS; Barrett-Lennard, 1962); (c) Working Alliance
Inventory–Short Form (WAI-SF; Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989); (d) Session
Depth subscale of the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (Depth; Stiles &
Snow, 1984); and (e) Cross-Cultural Counseling Inventory—Revised (CC-
CI–R; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Hernandez, 1991).
Client-perceived counselor credibility was measured using the CERS
(Atkinson & Carskaddon, 1975; Atkinson & Wampold, 1982). The CERS
is a 10-item semantic differential questionnaire consisting of four dimen-
sions related to counselor credibility (expertness, attractiveness, trustwor-
thiness, and utility) based on the social influence theory (Strong, 1968).
Participants rate each item on a 7-point bipolar scale (1 ⫽ bad, 7 ⫽ good).
Atkinson and Wampold (1982) reported a reliability coefficient of .90. Kim
and Atkinson (2002) and Kim et al. (2002) reported coefficient alphas of
.91 and .87, respectively, in their studies with Asian Americans as partic-
ipants. The present data yielded a coefficient alpha of .91. Convergent
validity of CERS was evidenced in a comparison with the Counselor
Rating Form (CRF; Barak & LaCrosse, 1975).
Client perception of counselor empathic understanding was assessed
using the EUS (Barrett-Lennard, 1962). This 16-item scale is based on the
client-centered theory’s concept of empathic understanding, specifically
the client’s perception of how empathic the counselor was in the session.
Content validation was provided by having client-centered counselors
review the items. Split-half reliability for client and therapist versions was
above .80 for each of the five subscales, including the EUS. Respondents
use a 7-point endorsement scale (⫺3 ⫽ I feel strongly that it is not true,
3 ⫽ I feel strongly that it is true). The published version of the scale is
worded for a male therapist, hence the pronouns were changed to reflect the
female therapists in the proposed study. Coefficient alphas ranging from
.88 to .89 have been reported for the subscale (Horvath & Greenberg,
1989). Kim and Atkinson (2002) and Kim et al. (2002) reported coefficient
alphas of .81 and .71, respectively, based on their samples of Asian
Americans. The present data yielded an alpha of .78.
The 12-item WAI-SF (Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989) was used to assess
client perceptions of the counselor and client’s working alliance. On the
basis of a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7
(strongly agree), items on the scale are based on a bond, goal, and task
conceptualization of the working alliance (Bordin, 1979). This instrument
was developed by factor analyzing responses to the larger 36-item Working
Alliance Inventory (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989). Results indicated that
the factor structure of the short version was similar to the original instru-
ment. The short form measures, primarily, a general alliance factor, and
secondarily, task, bond, and goal factors. Reliability coefficients for these
factors were .98, .90, .92, and .90, respectively (Tracey & Kokotovic,
1989). Tracey and Kokotovic found that there was shared variance in the
separate scales as well as unique variance in each scale. Thus, the com-
posite score of the WAI-SF is an appropriate measure of the common
variance. As for WAI-SF’s applicability to Asian American population,
Kim et al. (2002) reported a coefficient alpha of .86. The present data
yielded an alpha of .91.
The Depth (Stiles & Snow, 1984) was used to assess client perceptions
of session depth. It consists of 6 bipolar adjective items rated in a 7-point
semantic differential format. Session depth refers to the degree to which the
session was deep or shallow, valuable or worthless, full or empty, powerful
or weak, special or ordinary, and good or bad. Factor analysis by Stiles and
Snow (1984) provided support for the construct validity of the Depth. In
terms of reliability, Stiles and Snow reported coefficient alphas ranging
from .87 to .91. In addition, Kim and Atkinson (2002) and Kim et al.
(2002) reported coefficient alphas of .90 and .84, respectively, based on
their samples of Asian Americans. The present data yielded an alpha of .91.
Client-perceived counselor cross-cultural competence was assessed us-
ing the CCCI–R (LaFromboise et al., 1991). The 20-item CCCI–R assesses
beliefs/attitudes, knowledge, and skills on the basis of Division 17 of the
American Psychological Association’s Education and Training Commit-
tee’s description of what constitutes a cross-culturally competent counselor
(D. W. Sue et al., 1982). Designed to be completed by counselor supervi-
sors, the wording of the questionnaire was changed for the present study to
reflect client completion of the questionnaire. For example, the item
“Counselor demonstrates knowledge about the client’s culture” was
changed to “Counselor demonstrates knowledge about my culture.” The
necessity of modifying a questionnaire originally intended for use by
counselor supervisors limits the psychometric validity of the data. None-
theless, no other instrument assessing counselor cross-cultural competence
could be found. Given these circumstances, the measure is used with some
reservation. Furthermore, the CCCI–R has been used successfully (with
adequate reliability) in previous studies to assess client perceptions of
counselor cross-cultural competency (Constantine, 2002; Kim & Atkinson,
2002; Kim et al., 2002).
Instructions in the CCCI–R (LaFromboise et al., 1991) ask respondents
to rate the extent to which a counselor demonstrates a particular compe-
tence using a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 6 (strongly agree). Adequate content validity was demonstrated by
independent raters who assessed the amount of agreement between the
CCCI–R items and the committee’s competencies. A factor analysis study
provided evidence of construct validity. Pomales, Claiborn, and LaFrom-
boise (1986) provided evidence of discriminant validity of the CCCI–R in
that there were low correlations (from .01 to .28) between the instrument
and the CRF (Barak & LaCrosse, 1975), suggesting that the CCCI–R is
measuring unique cross-cultural competencies rather than general counsel-
ing competencies. LaFromboise et al. (1991) reported a coefficient alpha of
.95. More recently, Kim and Atkinson (2002) and Kim et al. (2002)
reported coefficient alphas of .89 and .90, respectively, based on their
samples of Asian Americans. The present data yielded a coefficient alpha
of .92.
Manipulation checks. As a manipulation check, clients were asked to
complete a questionnaire on their perception of the counselor’s counseling
style (directive vs. nondirective). The measure consists of 10 items, using
a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7
(strongly agree), and ascertains clients’ perceptions of the counseling style
used by the counselor. Sample items are “I feel the counselor chose what
I should talk about in the session instead of letting me choose” (directive
counseling style) and “The counselor seemed to listen to me more than
 COUNSELING STYLE AND ASIAN VALUES
telling me what to do about my problem” (nondirective counseling style).
The coefficient alpha for those items representing the directive condition
was .51, suggesting that this subscale did not have adequate reliability. The
coefficient alpha for those items representing the nondirective condition
was .72. Thus, only this subscale was used.
At the end of the session, counselors’ perception of treatment imple-
mentation was assessed using a questionnaire measuring the degree to
which counselors felt the experimental condition to which they were
assigned was implemented properly. The measure consists of 6 items and
is based on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 7 (strongly agree). The items were designed to measure counselors’
perceptions of the degree to which they felt they were able to accurately
portray the experimental condition to which they were assigned (Items
1–3) and the comfort and ease with which they portrayed the condition
(Items 4 – 6). The coefficient alpha for the first three items was .84, and the
coefficient alpha for Items 4 through 6 was .93.
Trained raters reviewed each of the counselor’s sessions to assess the
degree of adherence to the counseling protocol and rated them using a
videotape ratings form. Using a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1
(100% nondirective counseling) to 7 (100% directive counseling), raters
were instructed to rate the extent to which each stage (assessment of the
problem, choosing the goal for the session, exploring and clarifying the
problem, and resolution) of the session represented either directive or
nondirective counseling, and to rate the session overall. Three sessions
could not be rated because of technical problems. The raters attended the
same training workshop as the counselors and became familiar with the
counseling scripts for the study. Furthermore, the raters met with Lisa C.
Li and Bryan S. K. Kim to practice rating the videotapes until a minimum
acceptable level of agreement among the raters (% agreement ⬎ .80) was
attained.
Covariate. Client-perceived counselor attractiveness was measured us-
ing a 10-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all attractive) to 10 (most
attractive). Inclusion of this measure was based on the social influence
theory (Strong, 1968), which posits that client perceptions of counselor’s
physical attractiveness are related to client perceptions of counselor cred-
ibility. Kim and Atkinson (2002) found a correlation coefficient of .35
( p ⬍ .001) between counselor physical attractiveness and counselor cred-
ibility (as measured by the CERS; Atkinson & Carskaddon, 1975; Atkinson
& Wampold, 1982). Kim et al. (2002) found a correlation coefficient of .33
( p ⬍ .01) between counselor physical attractiveness and counselor credi-
bility. In addition, Kim et al. reported correlation coefficients of .26 ( p ⬍
.05) with counselor empathic understanding, .37 ( p ⬍ .01) with working
alliance, and .27 ( p ⬍ .01) with counselor cross-cultural competence.
Development of the Counseling Protocol
The operationalization of directive and nondirective counseling styles
was based on previous studies (Atkinson et al., 1978; Atkinson & Matsus-
hita, 1991; Exum & Lau, 1988) and the propositions by Kim, Atkinson, and
Umemoto (2001). These two sources of information seemed to agree on
what constitutes these two different counseling styles. Kim, Atkinson, and
Umemoto (2001) considered that directive counseling refers to the coun-
selor using such helping skills as conveying information, probing for
information, directing behavior, and making interpretations; whereas a
nondirective counseling style refers to the counselor using such helping
skills as restatement, reflection of feeling, probing for affect, and summa-
rization of feeling. For the present study, these definitions were further
refined through a survey of graduate students in counseling psychology.
To obtain empirically supported operationalizations of directive and
nondirective styles of counseling, 10 graduate students in counseling
psychology completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire presented a
four-stage session process (assessment, choosing the goal for the session,
exploring and clarifying the problem, and resolution), with each stage
consisting of phrases that described what a counselor might do in a session.
161
Fifty-one phrases that may be directive or nondirective in style were
initially developed on the basis of the literature. Respondents were asked
to rate the phrases using a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 ⫽ represents
directive counseling, 4 ⫽ represents both types of counseling, 7 ⫽ repre-
sents nondirective counseling). The goal of this procedure was to identify
the phrases in each counseling stage that clearly represented either direc-
tive or nondirective counseling. Hence, the phrases with a mean score
above 5.0 per counseling stage were retained and labeled as being repre-
sentative of nondirective counseling. Similarly, phrases with a mean score
less than 3.0 were retained as being representative of directive counseling.
Three phrases were included in each of the four stages for both directive
and nondirective styles. The phrases were used as the basis for the coun-
seling scripts that were used to train counselors. For example, in the
assessment stage, the counselor in the directive condition gave an opinion
as to what she believed to be the source of the client’s difficulties. In the
nondirective condition, the counselor in the assessment stage listened
empathically without guiding the client to discuss one topic or another.
To study the counseling script’s validity, counselors, before they were
trained, completed a questionnaire testing their perception of the differ-
ences in the experimental conditions. All ratings were on a 7-point scale
ranging from 1 (100% nondirective) to 7 (100% directive). For those script
items describing the directive condition, respondents gave mean scores
between 5.71 (SD ⫽ 1.11) and 6.85 (SD ⫽ 0.38), indicating that those
script items were representative of a directive counseling condition. For
those script items describing the nondirective condition, respondents gave
mean scores between 1.29 (SD ⫽ 0.49) and 2.00 (SD ⫽ 1.15), indicating
that those script items were representative of a nondirective counseling
condition.
Pilot Study
A pilot study was conducted prior to data collection. Six Asian American
students volunteered to participate in one session of career-focused coun-
seling. Three students participated in the directive counseling condition,
and 3 participated in the nondirective counseling condition. At the end of
the session, they completed the Manipulation Check Questionnaire. They
were also debriefed about the purpose of the study and asked to provide
feedback on the session. The results of the pilot study revealed that the
experimental conditions were salient to these volunteer clients, and hence
no changes were made to the counseling script.
Counselors
Training of counselors to portray experimental conditions. Five coun-
selors were trained during a half-day workshop facilitated by Lisa C. Li and
Bryan S. K. Kim (note that this number includes one of the authors who
served as a counselor). Three counselors who were unable to attend the
workshop were trained individually by Lisa C. Li. During the training, the
experimental conditions were discussed in depth and a videotaped role-
play demonstration was offered. Then, the counselors practiced the exper-
imental conditions. Counselors who could not attend the workshop also
reviewed the experimental conditions in depth and were offered the vid-
eotape role-play for review. These three counselors were offered opportu-
nities to practice the experimental conditions but opted not to do so because
of time constraints. It should be noted that two of these three counselors
had participated in other counseling process studies and were very familiar
with following counseling script protocols. The third counselor had exten-
sive career counseling experience and felt competent to participate in the
study without practicing the experimental conditions first. All counselors
were trained to implement both the directive and nondirective counseling
styles. Counselors practiced both experimental conditions, with research
assistants serving as clients. They were given a written script in an effort
to standardize the experimental conditions across counselors. Counselors
had the written script on a clipboard on their laps during the counseling
162 LI AND KIM
sessions, which allowed them to maintain the counseling protocol without
the written script being too obvious to the clients. Counselors were en-
couraged to practice the roles until they felt comfortable. Counselors were
monitored and supervised by Lisa C. Li and Bryan S. K. Kim throughout
the training workshop to ensure adherence to the experimental conditions.
Throughout the study, Lisa C. Li and Bryan S. K. Kim were available to
supervise and consult with the counselors as needed. In addition, Lisa C. Li
inquired with the counselors about the process of each session and any
difficulties they encountered. Further supervision and consultation from
Bryan S. K. Kim was sought if any difficulties arose.
Number of sessions for each counselor. Six counselors conducted 5
sessions each, and one counselor conducted four because of time con-
straints, resulting in a total of 34 sessions. The author who served as a
counselor conducted 22 sessions. Four sessions were dropped, one because
of the participant being younger than 18 years old and three because of the
session being less than 40 min, which resulted in having useable data from
a total of 52 sessions. The distribution of conditions across counselors
mostly reflected a 2:3 ratio, with six counselors conducting 2 sessions
using one condition and 3 sessions using the other condition. The seventh
counselor conducted 1 directive session and 3 nondirective sessions, and
Lisa C. Li and Bryan S. K. Kim conducted 8 directive and 12 nondirective
sessions.
Procedure
Participant recruitment. Volunteer clients were recruited from an in-
troductory psychology subject pool and received course credit for partic-
ipating. Students with career uncertainty (e.g., career indecision, lack of
career awareness) were asked to participate. Participants signed up for the
study online. They read a brief description of the study, which stated that
the participation involved discussing their choice of major or future career
with a trained counselor in one counseling session and then evaluating the
counselor and session. Potential participants also were told that the total
participation time was about 1.5 hr and the sessions ranged from 40 to 50
min; the results indicated that the mean session length was 44.90 min
(SD ⫽ 3.90).
Assignment to conditions. When clients arrived for their sessions, they
read and signed an informed consent form. They then completed the AVS
(Kim et al., 1999) and a demographic questionnaire that asked for gender,
age, year in school, Asian ethnicity, and generation status (for first gener-
ation, the number of years in the United States), and previous counseling
experience. The AVS was then scored and the client was classified as being
either high or low in Asian values adherence. On the basis of the median
AVS score from Kim et al. (1999), clients with a score below 4.25 were
classified in the low group and those with a score of 4.25 or above were
classified in the high group; the “high” group had an AVS mean score of
4.68 (SD ⫽ 0.45), and the “low” group had a mean score of 3.76 (SD ⫽
0.56). They were then assigned to one of two experimental conditions on
counseling style (directive and nondirective). An attempt was made to
balance the number of male and female clients in each cell to control for
any client gender effects. As a result, 10 participants who were classified
as having a high AVS score were assigned to the directive condition, 14
participants classified as having high AVS were assigned to the nondirec-
tive condition, 13 participants classified as having low AVS were assigned
to the directive condition, and 15 participants classified as having low AVS
were assigned to the nondirective condition.
Directive counseling condition. A counselor in the directive condition
followed the same framework for a counseling session: assessment, choos-
ing the goal for the session, exploring and clarifying the problem, and
resolution of the problem. She began her session by directing the client to
discuss the presenting problem. The counselor then gave her opinion about
the source of the client’s problem and what she considered to be the most
pressing issue. The counselor offered suggestions for the possible goal of
the counseling session and informed the client that she believed she could
help the client with his or her problem. Counselors in this condition also
suggested to the client the steps that he or she could take to resolve the
problem. As the client explored his or her issue, the counselor used
interpretations, challenges, and offered information about the client’s cur-
rent challenge. At the end of the session, the counselor offered specific
suggestions for resolving the problem and about what the client should do.
Furthermore, counselors in this condition were told to emphasize to the
client throughout the session that they would provide some type of advice
at the end of the session. The sessions ended by having the counselor
encourage the client to seek further assistance at the university counseling
center.
Nondirective counseling condition. A counselor in the nondirective
condition followed the identical framework for a counseling session as a
counselor in the directive condition: assessment, choosing the goal for the
session, exploring and clarifying the problem, and resolution of the prob-
lem. However, a counselor in the nondirective condition began the session
by allowing the client to describe the presenting problem, listening em-
pathically, and allowing the client to discuss possible causes of the prob-
lem. Counselors in this condition told the client that he or she has the
capacity to define the goal for the session. They allowed the client to
choose the goal for the session and encouraged the client to consider the
advantages and disadvantages of the chosen goal. Next, the counselors
allowed the client to explore the problem and concretely define it.
Throughout the process, the counselor used reflections of feeling but did
not offer any type of interpretations or suggestions to resolve the problem.
At the end of the session, the counselor allowed clients to generate ways to
resolve the problem, told the client only he or she could decide what is best
for his or her life, and encouraged the client to decide on ways to resolve
the problem. Furthermore, counselors in this condition were told to use
primarily reflections of feeling and restatements throughout the session.
The sessions ended by having the counselor encourage the client to seek
further assistance at the university counseling center.
Postsession questionnaire administration. At the end of the counseling
session, clients were taken to another room to complete the postsession
questionnaires that consisted of the CERS (Atkinson & Carskaddon, 1975;
Atkinson & Wampold, 1982), EUS (Barrett-Lennard, 1962), WAI-SF
(Tracey & Kokotovic, 1989), Depth (Stiles & Snow, 1984), CCCI–R
(LaFromboise et al., 1991), the measure of client-perceived counselor
physical attractiveness, and the client manipulation check. Participants
were informed that the counselor would neither see the ratings nor be
affected by them. The order of the questionnaires was counterbalanced to
avoid an order effect. Upon completion of the questionnaire, participants
were given a debriefing statement to inform them of the purpose of the
study.
Postsession rating of videotaped counseling sessions by judges. All
videotaped sessions were reviewed (with the exception of three mentioned
previously) and rated using the videotape rating form. The research assis-
tants rated the videotapes on the degree of adherence to the counseling
script. If significant discrepancies were found between the session protocol
and what took place in the session, the session was not used in the final
analyses.
Results
The means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations of vari-
ables of interest are shown in Table 1.
Preliminary Analyses
Five t tests for each of the dependent variables revealed no
significant differences for those sessions conducted by Lisa C. Li
versus those conducted by the other counselors. Additional t tests
for each of the five dependent variables revealed no significant
differences for sessions conducted by counselors enrolled in a
doctoral program versus counselors enrolled in a master’s pro-
 COUNSELING STYLE AND ASIAN VALUES 163

gram. A t test also revealed that there were no differences between

14

—
the two style conditions on counselor experience.
The present study found a significant relationship between

0.22
13

—
client-perceived counselor physical attractiveness and one of the
independent variables, counseling style (r ⫽ ⫺.26, p ⬍ .05). Thus,

0.37**
0.84**
the effects of client-perceived counselor physical attractiveness
12

—
were controlled in the main analyses.
An examination of ratings of client-perceived nondirective

0.00
0.25
⫺0.06
Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations Among the Independent Variables, Dependent Variables, Possible Covariates, and Client Variables

counseling session style revealed that clients appeared to have

11

—
perceived the intended condition to a certain extent. For the Non-
directive subscale of the measure of client perception of the

⫺0.17
0.09
⫺0.17
0.15
counselor’s counseling style, there was a significant difference
10

—
between mean scores for those in the nondirective and directive
conditions, t(50) ⫽ ⫺2.027, p ⫽ .024, d ⫽ 0.57. As expected,
0.18
⫺0.22
⫺0.01
0.15
⫺0.09
mean scores were higher for those assigned to the nondirective
—
9

condition (M ⫽ 5.22, SD ⫽ 1.63) than those assigned to the

Note. AVS ⫽ Asian Values Scale; comp. ⫽ competence; attract. ⫽ attractiveness; exp. ⫽ experience; Gen. ⫽ generation; imm. ⫽ immigration. directive condition (M ⫽ 4.23, SD ⫽ 1.84); note that scores range
from 1 to 7, with 7 representing the highest agreement.
0.37**
—
0.19
0.17

0.15
0.20
0.06
8

We examined counselors’ ratings of the degree to which they

felt they adequately implemented the experimental conditions and
the ease with which they did so. Both the directive (M ⫽ 5.83,
0.25*
0.07
0.08
⫺0.07
⫺0.04
⫺0.06
⫺0.03

SD ⫽ 1.01) and the nondirective condition (M ⫽ 5.60, SD ⫽ 1.37)

—
7

seemed to have been implemented as intended; the scores range

from 1 to 7, with 7 representing the highest agreement. Counselors
0.69**

also seemed to have felt comfortable implementing the directive

0.18
0.10
⫺0.02
⫺0.05
⫺0.07
⫺0.17
⫺0.14
—
6

(M ⫽ 5.87, SD ⫽ 1.24) and the nondirective condition (M ⫽ 5.84,

SD ⫽ 1.35); the scores range from 1 to 7, with 7 representing the
highest agreement.
0.79**
0.72**
0.11
0.06
⫺0.10
⫺0.06
⫺0.01
0.01
⫺0.08

We analyzed judges’ ratings of the implementation of the ses-

—
5

sion counseling style conditions. Results revealed that 51 sessions

conformed to the assigned experimental condition. One session
initially was not deemed to have been true to the assigned condi-
0.67**
0.55**
0.54**
0.12
0.07
0.18
⫺0.03
0.10
⫺0.00
0.05
—

tion. Lisa C. Li then reviewed the tape and discussed it with the
4

judge. An agreement was reached that the session actually did

conform to the assigned condition.
0.49**
0.53**
0.52**
0.68**
0.14
0.01
0.21
⫺0.12
0.12
⫺0.22
0.12
—
3

Main Analyses
We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses to study
0.39**
0.44**

0.34**

the main and interaction effects of the two independent variables

0.31*

⫺0.26*
0.18

⫺0.10
⫺0.03
⫺0.08
⫺0.09
0.12
⫺0.09
—
2

on each of the five dependent variables, while controlling for the

effects of client-perceived counselor physical attractiveness. The
independent variables were client adherence to Asian cultural
0.00
0.02
0.03
0.06
0.18
⫺0.12
0.14
0.08
0.08
0.21
⫺0.13
0.01
⫺0.10

values and style of counseling (dummy coded: 1 ⫽ nondirective,

—
1

2 ⫽ directive). In addition, there was a variable representing the

interaction between the two independent variables. The dependent
0.69

0.84
0.70
0.95
0.99
0.64
1.43

1.61
SD

variables were counselor credibility, counselor empathic under-

standing, session depth, client– counselor working alliance, and
counselor cross-cultural counseling competence. For each regres-
4.18

5.98
0.96
5.21
4.89
4.59
6.95

18.94
M

sion analysis, client-perceived counselor physical attractiveness

was entered in Step 1, the two main independent variables were
entered in Step 2, and the interaction variable was entered in
Counselor credibility

Cross-cultural comp.

Counselor exp. level

* p ⬍ .05. ** p ⬍ .01.
Counselor empathy

Step 3.
Working alliance
Counseling style

Gen. since imm.

Physical attract.

Academic level

In an attempt to avoid multicollinearity, the scores on the main

Session depth

Previous exp.
Variable

and interaction independent variables were centered. The proce-

dure yielded correlation coefficients among the main and interac-
Gender

tion variables, with magnitudes ranging from .00 ( p ⫽ .984) to .56

AVS
Table 1

Age

( p ⫽ .000). To further assess for the presence of multicollinearity,

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

the variation inflation factor (VIF) statistics were first examined

164 LI AND KIM
across the predictor variables. Myers (1990) pointed out that a VIF
value greater than 10 is cause for “at least some concern” (p. 369)
for the presence of multicollinearity. The results showed that the
highest VIF statistic was 1.46, suggesting that multicollinearity
was not present.
The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses
revealed a significant main effect for counseling style on four of
the five dependent variables (see Table 2). Specifically, clients in
the directive counseling style condition gave higher scores on
counselor empathic understanding (M ⫽ 1.26, SD ⫽ 0.70), client–
counselor working alliance (M ⫽ 5.67, SD ⫽ 0.85), session depth
(M ⫽ 5.23, SD ⫽ 1.00), and counselor cross-cultural counseling
competence (M ⫽ 4.84, SD ⫽ 0.65) than did those in the nondi-
rective counseling style condition (M ⫽ 0.72, SD ⫽ 0.61, d ⫽
0.82; M ⫽ 4.85, SD ⫽ 0.87, d ⫽ 0.95; M ⫽ 4.63, SD ⫽ 0.91, d ⫽
0.63; and M ⫽ 4.40, SD ⫽ 0.57, d ⫽ 0.72, respectively). There
was no significant difference on counselor credibility between
directive (M ⫽ 6.14, SD ⫽ 0.76) and nondirective (M ⫽ 5.84,
SD ⫽ 0.90, d ⫽ 0.36) conditions.
On the basis of these results, the hypothesis that Asian American
clients with high adherence to Asian cultural values would rate the
directive counseling session higher than clients with low Asian
values adherence was not supported. Likewise, the hypothesis that
Asian American clients with high adherence to Asian cultural
values would rate the nondirective counseling session lower than
clients with low Asian values adherence was not supported.
Discussion
The present study used a quasi-intervention analogue design to
evaluate whether Asian American college student clients with high
adherence to Asian cultural values would prefer directive versus
nondirective counseling styles. The results indicated that clients
exposed to career counseling with directive style rated the coun-
selors as more empathic and culturally competent, and the session
as having a stronger working alliance and depth, than did clients
exposed to the nondirective style. However, contrary to the theo-
retical propositions put forth by Kim, Atkinson, and Umemoto
(2001), the present study failed to support the hypothesis that
clients with high Asian values adherence would give higher ratings
for directive over nondirective counseling styles.
The significant main effects of counseling style on four of the
five dependent variables are consistent with findings from previ-
ous studies on counseling style with Asian American college
students (Atkinson et al., 1978; Atkinson & Matsushita, 1991;
Exum & Lau, 1988). Each of these studies found that a directive
counseling style was evaluated more positively than a nondirective
style. A possible explanation for the significant main effect may
exist with the content of the directive style in comparison with the
content of the nondirective style. The directive style was highly
structured, with the main goal being to provide concrete guidance
on how the clients can resolve their career uncertainty issues. In
contrast, the nondirective counseling style was focused on facili-
tating clients to determine for themselves the appropriate course of
action. It has been suggested that Asian Americans and other
ethnic and racial groups prefer counselors to provide concrete
guidance that lead to some immediate benefits from counseling (S.
Sue & Zane, 1987). Concrete guidance such as giving advice on
the next steps to take could lead to tangible benefits such as
problem resolution, anxiety relief, amelioration of depression
symptoms, and skills acquisition (D. W. Sue, 1990, 1994; S. Sue
& Zane, 1987). S. Sue and Zane (1987) labeled such benefits as
gifts and encouraged counselors to engage in “gift giving” when
they work with ethnic minority clients. It may be that the guidance
given in the directive style created an experience of clients receiv-
ing concrete benefits, or gifts. To the extent that the present results
are consistent with this gift giving idea, it can be speculated that
the present findings also apply to non-Asian American minority
groups.
Alternatively, the support for directive counseling style that was
observed in the present study may be related to the fact that all
sessions were held within the context of career counseling. It could
be that in career counseling, there may be certain demand charac-
teristics closely related to directive counseling style (e.g., need for
advice). In other words, directive counseling may be expected
within a career counseling context for individuals with career
uncertainty; for other counseling contexts, perhaps more explor-
atory, or nondirective, counseling is expected. This is not to say
that career counseling is not related to personal counseling, but that
career counseling is more specific, and therefore clients could be
anticipating more directive, solution-based approaches.
The lack of a significant effect of counseling style on counselor
credibility was unexpected, given past research. The four previous
studies of directive and nondirective counseling styles assessed
participant perceptions of only counselor credibility and found
higher ratings on it for directive style over nondirective style.
Hence, it was surprising that this previous finding was not repli-
cated in the present study. Although it is difficult to explain a null
finding because of many possible explanations, it might be spec-
ulated that the counselors in this study were perhaps adept at
portraying the experimental conditions to such a degree that clients
in either condition experienced them as being equally attractive,
trustworthy, and expert. The professional stance of the counselor
may have diluted any differences that might otherwise be due to
the experimental conditions. The opposite could also be true. They
could have been perceived as equally lacking credibility because
of their student status. Hence, there may have been a lack of
variance on how credible counselors were perceived by clients in
either case.
The present study failed to support the hypothesis that Asian
values adherence plays a role in client perceptions of counselor
credibility, counselor cross-cultural counseling competence, coun-
selor empathic understanding, client– counselor working alliance,
or session depth in a single session of career-focused counseling.
This finding is contrary to the findings of previous studies that
included an assessment of Asian values adherence (Kim & Atkin-
son, 2002; Kim et al., 2002). As mentioned earlier, Kim and
Atkinson (2002) found that clients with high Asian values adher-
ence rated Asian American counselors as more credible and em-
pathic than did clients with low Asian values adherence. Kim et al.
(2002) found that clients with high Asian values adherence per-
ceived stronger working alliance and counselor empathic under-
standing than clients with low Asian values adherence. Although
there may be many alternative explanations for a null finding, a
possible explanation is a lack of variability on AVS (Kim et al.,
1999) scores for this sample. In support of this speculation, an
examination of a histogram showed that the AVS mean scores for
two thirds (n ⫽ 34) of the participants were between 4.00 and 4.50.
 COUNSELING STYLE AND ASIAN VALUES 165

Table 2
Results of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses on the Four Dependent Variables

Variable ␤ t R2 F ⌬R2

Counselor credibility
Step 1
Attractiveness .14 0.99 .02 0.97
Step 2
Attractiveness .20 1.36
Asian values (A) ⫺.01 ⫺0.05
Counseling style (B) .23 1.60 .07 1.18 .05
Step 3
Attractiveness .21 1.46
Asian values (A) .14 0.83
Counseling style (B) .23 1.64
A⫻B .27 1.60 .12 1.56 .05

Counselor empathic understanding

Step 1
Attractiveness .12 0.87 .02 0.75
Step 2
Attractiveness .24 1.76
Asian values (A) .00 0.02
Counseling style (B) .45 3.35** .20 4.04* .18
Step 3
Attractiveness .24 1.76
Asian values (A) .04 0.24
Counseling style (B) .45 3.32**
A⫻B .06 0.41 .20 3.02* .00

Client–counselor working alliance

Step 1
Attractiveness .11 0.79 .01 0.62
Step 2
Attractiveness .23 1.79
Asian values (A) .03 0.26
Counseling style (B) .50 3.81*** .24 5.16** .23
Step 3
Attractiveness .24 1.81
Asian values (A) .09 0.62
Counseling style (B) .50 3.80***
A⫻B .11 0.74 .25 3.97** .01

Session depth

Step 1
Attractiveness .18 1.31 .03 1.71
Step 2
Attractiveness .26 1.89
Asian values (A) .15 1.14
Counseling style (B) .37 2.78** .19 3.74* .16
Step 3
Attractiveness .26 1.89
Asian values (A) .18 1.10
Counseling style (B) .37 2.75**
A⫻B .05 0.29 .19 2.77* .00

Counselor cross-cultural counseling competence

Step 1
Attractiveness .25 1.86 .07 3.46
Step 2
Attractiveness .39 3.06**
Asian values (A) ⫺.17 ⫺1.39
Counseling style (B) .45 3.49** .27 6.03** .20
Step 3
Attractiveness .40 3.09**
Asian values (A) ⫺.10 ⫺0.64
Counseling style (B) .45 3.50**
A⫻B .14 0.94 .29 4.73** .02

Note. Attractiveness ⫽ client-perceived counselor physical attractiveness; Asian values ⫽ client adherence to
Asian Cultural Values Scale.
* p ⬍ .05. ** p ⬍ .01. *** p ⬍ .001.
166 LI AND KIM
Also, 90% (n ⫽ 47) of participants reported being either first- or
second-generation Asian Americans; Kim et al. (1999), in a study
of 300 Asian American college students, reported no significant
differences in AVS mean scores between first-, second-, and
third-generation Asian Americans. To the extent that this specu-
lation about the lack of values heterogeneity within the sample is
true, the use of a larger, more diverse sample of Asian Americans
might have produced more variance in Asian values adherence
scores and therefore a significant main effect on Asian values
adherence on the dependent variables.
The findings from the present study have a number of limita-
tions. First, a major limitation is that Lisa C. Li conducted 42% of
the counseling sessions. Second, the generalizability of the find-
ings of this study are limited to an Asian American college student
population, particularly among students with Asian American eth-
nic backgrounds that were represented in relatively large numbers.
Third, only clients that were experiencing career uncertainty were
recruited, and hence the findings are limited to clients with such
issues. Fourth, if clients had in mind that there was more than one
session with the same counselor, the findings might be different.
Thus, the findings of this study are most relevant for one session
of career counseling. Fifth, only European American female coun-
selors were used in this study, and the result might be different if
non-European American or male counselors were used. Sixth, the
counselors used in this study were primarily master’s and doctoral
students, with one being a professional career counselor. Most
career counselors would have completed their degrees and have
had several years of experience. Seventh, although it affords
greater generalizability to real counseling sessions than audiovi-
sual analogue designs, the use of a quasi-intervention analogue
design (Gelso & Fretz, 2001) still has some limitations in truly
replicating a real counseling situation. The counselors were con-
ducting sessions within certain parameters dictated by the protocol,
and thus the sessions were not truly reflective of actual counseling
sessions in which counselors exercise more freedom in conducting
sessions. Finally, although the present sample size was sufficient
to detect large effect sizes, it may not have been sufficient to detect
medium or small effect sizes.
Given the present study’s lack of interaction between client
adherence to Asian cultural values and counseling style, it may be
that the theoretical proposition by Kim, Atkinson, and Umemoto
(2001) needs to be revised. Consistent with past writings (D. W.
Sue, 1990, 1994; S. Sue & Zane, 1987), the present findings
suggest that for some Asian Americans, regardless of Asian values
adherence, a more concrete, directive counseling style is expected
and preferred. However, the recommendation that Kim, Atkinson,
and Umemoto’s (2001) propositions be changed is offered with
caution. It could be that for Asian Americans at a different age
group, socioeconomic status, and generation level, the propositions
still may apply. In any event, more research is needed.
The present study offers a number of directions for future
research. First, given the significant main effect of higher ratings
for the directive counseling condition, it may be interesting to
examine the effects of counseling style using a wider range of
counseling process variables than has been studied to date. For
example, ratings by judges or counselors themselves of counselor
behaviors such as strategies (e.g., therapist intentions), covert
behaviors (e.g., thought listing), or interpersonal manner might be
conducted (Heppner, Kivlighan, & Wampold, 1999). Second, the
present results indicated an interesting relationship between client
gender (dummy coded: 1 ⫽ male, 2 ⫽ female) and client-
perceived counselor physical attractiveness. There was a moder-
ately positive relationship between these two variables, suggesting
that female clients perceived their counselors to be more attractive
than male clients. Although we did not observe significant rela-
tionships between attractiveness and session outcome in the
present study, as had been theorized in the literature (e.g., Strong,
1968) and observed in past research (Kim & Atkinson, 2002; Kim
et al., 2002), the present finding invokes an interesting possibility.
That is, it could be speculated that perhaps there is a mediating
effect of attractiveness on the relationship between client gender
and session outcome. It would be interesting to examine this
possibility in future research. Third, future studies should strive to
include participants that represent the many Asian ethnicities in the
United States. Fourth, future studies should include Asian Amer-
icans who are noncollege students across several generation sta-
tuses as well as age groups. Finally, the present study should be
replicated with non-Asian American clients. It is possible that all
clients, regardless of ethnic background, prefer a counseling strat-
egy that offers ideas and strategies for dealing with issues (i.e.,
directive style), as opposed to nondirective approaches that may
seem less productive.
The present study also has an implication for practice with
Asian American college student clients. To be perceived as more
empathic and culturally competent and to increase client–
counselor working alliance and session depth, counselors may use
a directive counseling style over a nondirective one when working
with Asian American clients. In particular, the results of this study
specifically apply to a single session of career-focused counseling.
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Received May 8, 2002
Revision received October 28, 2003
Accepted November 4, 2003 䡲