Relationships of College Students’ Cultural Characteristics, Multicultural Counseling Expectations, and Willingness to Seek Psychological Help
Aimee Adams, M.Ed., Grace I. L. Caskie, PhD
Department of Counseling Psychology
Abstract
As college campuses become increasingly culturally diverse (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), it is critical to create initiatives aimed at improving the personal development of cultural minority students due to their lower rates of retention. Although counseling can be an effective component of retention programs, cultural minority students often seek help at lower rates than their majority counterparts. This indicates counselors need a greater understanding of what potential clients expect from their counselors when they seek help. This study examined the extent to which undergraduate and graduate students' expectations for counselor multicultural counseling competence could be predicted by: a) individual and clustered demographic variables (race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status), b) salience of culture to self-identification, and c) multicultural personality disposition, as indicated by universal-diverse orientation (UDO). The relationship between multicultural counseling expectations and willingness to seek help was also examined.
Three hundred and twenty-six participants completed measures of the variables of interest via an online survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine the relationships among the variables. Results showed that individual demographic variables, particularly sexual orientation and socioeconomic status (SES), significantly predict multicultural expectations. Specifically, homosexual and higher SES individuals reported greater multicultural expectations. Participants were also clustered into seven similar demographic groups using cluster analysis. Results using the clustered demographic variables showed that homosexual females had significantly higher multicultural expectations than did Caucasian, heterosexual males. However, membership in the demographic clusters did not explain as much variance in multicultural expectations as the individual demographic variables did. Salience of culture to participants' self-identification was not a significant predictor of their multicultural expectations. UDO was the strongest predictor of multicultural expectations, with participants reporting greater openness to diversity also reporting higher expectations for counselor multicultural competence. Further, multicultural expectations significantly predicted students' willingness to seek psychological help.
The results suggest that demographic variables (particularly sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and gender) and multicultural personality disposition/UDO are important for college counselors to consider in understanding the multicultural counseling expectations of potential clients. Theories of multicultural competence and help-seeking should incorporate these constructs, as they enhance the understanding of potential clients' views of these constructs. Recommendations for future research include assessing the same constructs with a more culturally diverse population, assessing additional demographic variables, assessing salience of culture to self-identification with a more psychometrically sound measure, and investigating additional predictors of help seeking in comparison to multicultural expectations.
Aimee Adams is a doctoral candidate in the College of Education's Counseling Psychology program completing her dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Grace I. L. Caskie. Her research interests include culturally diverse clients' and potential clients' perspectives on counselor multicultural competence. Aimee is currently working as an Assistant Professor/Staff Counselor in a university counseling center. After completing her degree, she plans to continue her clinical and research work in this position.
