The Influential Factors Of The Clients’ Interpersonal Trust To The Psychological Counseling Workers

In 2020,under the shadow of the epidemic,the state and society are paying more and more attention to the national mental health and psychological counseling industry,because the negative emotions such as anxiety and panic among various groups of people in society were triggered.In 2021,during the “two sessions” held in Beijing,some representatives suggested that depression and psychological counseling should be included in medical insurance,which shows that China’s emphasis on the psychological counseling industry.In psychological counseling,a trustworthy relationship between the counselor and the client is the prerequisite and foundation for achieving results.However,in addition to the professional attitude and professionalism shown by the counselors in counseling,we are curious whether there are other factors that may influence the trust of the clients in the counselors before they establish a professional counseling relationship.Therefore,this study selects the client as the research’s subject,and selects the social distance between the client and the counselor,the counseling practitioner’s job and training experience,and the level of interpersonal trust of the client in the counselor as the research’s variables.The study uses the trust game framework to quantitatively determine initial interpersonal trust existing in the counseling relationship,and analyzes the psychological mechanism of interpersonal trust from the perspective of the construal level theory by examining the influence of the counseling practitioner’s job and social distance between the client and the counselor on interpersonal trust.This study aims to help counseling practitioners understand some factors that may affect the effectiveness of their counseling and the establishment of their relationship with patients,to help counselors improve their personal development through initiative and to improve the initial trust of clients so that a better counseling relationship can be established.This study consists of three parts.Study 1 examined the effect of the counseling practitioner’s job on the level of interpersonal trust.Three common sites(a psychiatric hospital,a school,and a privately-run counseling agency)were randomly and equally selected for the recruitment of subjects.A total of 100 subjects who met the experimental requirements were recruited and screened by posting advertisements online and having the managers of the relevant institutions distribute questionnaires offline.Study I used one-factor within subjects experimental design,with the independent variable being the counseling practitioner’s job,containing three levels:psychologist,psychology teacher,and counselor,and the dependent variable being the level of interpersonal trust,which was represented by the fees that the subjects were willing to pay in the trust game in the research.Study 2 examined the effects of social distance and the counseling practitioner’s job on the level of interpersonal trust,and subjects were recruited in the same way as in Study 1.88 subjects were recruited and screened to meet the experimental requirements.Study 2 used a two-factor mixed experimental design of 2 social distance factors(near,far)× 3 counseling job factors(psychiatrist,psychologist,counselor),where social distance was a between-subjects variable and the counseling practitioner’s job was a within-subjects variable.The dependent variable was the same as study 1.Study 3 examined the effects of social distance,counselor’s job and training experience on the level of interpersonal trust level,and subjects were recruited in the same way as the previous studies.176 subjects were recruited and screened to meet the experimental requirements.A three-factor mixed experimental design of 2 social distance factors(near,far)× 2 training experience factors(rich,poor)× 3 counseling job factors(psychiatrist,psychologist,counselor),was conducted,in which social distance and training experience were between-subject variables and the counseling practitioner’s job was a within-subject variable.The dependent variable was the same as study one for the level of interpersonal trust.The main findings were as follows.(1)Study 1 found that subjects’ level of interpersonal trust in counseling practitioners with different jobs differed significantly.Without considering social distance and training experience,individuals had highest level of interpersonal trust in psychiatrist,followed by counselors,and the lowest in psychologists.(2)The result of Study 2 showed that,in addition to the counseling practitioner’s job,individuals’ level of interpersonal trust in counseling practitioners differed significantly across social distances.When actual training experience was not considered,individuals had higher level of trust in counseling practitioners who had closer social distance.(3)The result of Study 3 showed that individuals differed significantly in their level of interpersonal trust in counseling practitioners with different levels of training experience.Individuals had a higher level of trust in counseling practitioners with more training experience,compared to those with less training experience.The highest level of trust was found in counselors with more experienced training,followed by psychiatrists with known experienced training who were socially closer.The least trust was found in psychologists who were known to be lack of training experience and socially further.This study fills the gap in empirical research on the initial interpersonal trust level of visitors to counseling practitioners in China and provides direction to help counseling practitioners build trusting relationships with their visitors better.