What influences clinicians' responsibility attributions? The role of problem type, theoretical orientation, and client attribution

Preliminary evidence suggests that therapy outcome is directly related to the similarity between client and therapist attributions of responsibility for clients' problems (Hayes, Wall, & Shea, 1998; Tracey, 1988). However, it is unclear what factors influence the formulation of clinicians' responsibility attributions (RAs), causing them to differ at times fron clients' RAs. This study investigated how problem type, theoretical orientation, and client RA might affect clinician RAs. After reading a vignette describing a woman with either bulimia or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 357 members of the American Psychological Association (147 women, 210 men) made RAs. The client with bulimia was viewed as more responsible for causing and solving her problem than the client with PTSD. Theoretical orientation was not a useful predictor of clinician RAs. Client RA did not affect clinicians' RAs.