Effect of Information on Students' Perceptions of Counseling and Their Willingness to Seek Help.

Beginning with Warman's (1960) study, research has consistently indicated that students (and other campus groups) perceive personal-social problems as much less appropriate to discuss with counselors than do counselors themselves. The present study was the first one which examined the efficacy of speciallydevised information in altering students' perceptions of the appropriateness of personal problems for counseling and their willingness to seek counseling for such problems. It was found that students who received both written and orally-presented information showed an increment on these dependent variables, while students receiving only written information did not. In light of past research, it was concluded that written information may inform or remind students of the availability of counseling, but, in itself, does not alter their impression of the types of problems appropriate for counseling. EFFECT OF INFORMATION ON STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF COUNSELING AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO SEEK HELP Over a decade ago Warman (1960) found that college counselors viewed personal adjustment problems as much more appropriate for students to seek help with at a university counseling center than did other campus groups (clients, faculty, student personnel workers). Warman attributed the discrepancy to the fact that counseling psychology had undergone much change over a brief time period. Thus, campus groups other than counselors continued to adhere to the once-valid belief that counselors treated primarily educational-vocational problems. Since this belief was no longer valid, Warman suggested that counselors must better educate and orient their publics about the range of student problems with which they dealt. Because several years have elapsed since WaLman's research, it would seem reasonable to expect that the job of educating the university community about the problems with which counselors should and do work has been largely accomplished. Recent research, however, indicates that the "communication gap" uncovered by Warman continues to exist (Gelso, Karl & O'Connell, 1972; Resnick & Gelso, 1971; Wilcove & Sharp, 1971). Counselors still view personal problems as much more appropriate for clients to seek help with from counseling centers than do clients, non-client students, faculty, student personnel workers and parents. In addition, students generally feel they have little info -mation about the counseling centers on their campuses (Gelso et. al., 1972; Snyder, Hill & Derksen, 1972). While all studies on "problem appropriateness" have underscored the need to inform ore effectively the university community, no research heretofore has examined the efficacy of various modes of information dissemination in correcting the miscommunication between counselors and other groups. Thus, much time and effort have been spent identifying the problem but next to no energy has been exerted in studying means of remedying it. The general purpose of the present study was to determine whether students' perceptions of the kinds of problems which are appropriate for discussion with counselors and their willingness to seek help for various problems can be altered by specially-designed written and orally-presented information. Past research . has typically found that students and counselors agree on the appropriateness of educational and vocational problems for discussion with counselors (Gelso, et.al., 1972; Wilcove & Sharp, 1971). As indicated, it is in the area of personal-adjustment problems that marked discrepancies exist. Thus, the -specific purposes of the present study were to (a) determine if students' perceptions of the appropriateness of discussing personal problems with counselors and their willingness to do so can be increased by specially-designed information and (b) compare the efficacy of written information with information that is presented both orally and in writing. Because past research has raised the question of whether perceived knowledge about-a counseling center is related to actual amount of knowledge (Snyder et.al., 1972), a secondary purpose of the study was ;-;o compare the effect of information on students' perceptions of the amount of knowledge they possessed about a counseling center.