The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of therapist’s gender and gender roles on attitudes toward clients. Attitudes toward motivational interviewing were also a focus as MI can be hypothesized to be feminine rather than masculine in nature. The subjects ( ) were Finnish substance abuse therapists. Their attitudes toward clients were measured using a vignette task. Results indicated that female therapists were significantly more positive toward clients than were male therapists. Although females were significantly more feminine than males, they saw themselves as masculine as the males did. The more feminine the therapist was, the more s/he preferred MI. In the future, an examination of this kind should be combined with measurement of treatment processes and outcomes. 1. Introduction The effects of various treatments on outcome have been studied extensively both in psychotherapy and substance abuse treatment [1, 2]. The investigation of between-therapist variation in outcome has been infrequent, although it has proved an important factor in both disciplines [3, 4]. Other little-studied factors are the gender and gender roles of the therapist and their impact on treatment effectiveness [5]. Gender role is a key concept in our study. It refers to the set of attitudes and behaviors socially expected of the members of a particular gender [6]. According to Bem’s [7] theory, a traditionally gender-typed person is highly attuned to the cultural definitions of gender-appropriate behavior and uses such definitions as the ideal standard against which her or his own behavior is to be evaluated. Masculinity and femininity are gender roles of the traditional type. Androgyny, in turn, is considered to be a modern gender role. It means that a person is both masculine and feminine; these traits are not mutually exclusive. Research on psychotherapy has indicated that therapy effectiveness may be predicted on the basis of gendered factors [8]. In the substance abuse field, there is evidence that therapist’s attitudes toward clients vary according to the client’s gender. DeJong et al. [9] demonstrated that therapists were more confrontational and critical with male clients, while female clients received more empathy and support. The male clients were seen by the therapists as threatening, in which case the attitudes became confrontational, while female clients were seen as submissive, which led to empathetic attitudes. These attitudes were due to stereotypical gender roles common in society. The therapist’s own gender had no impact on the attitudes
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