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Abstract
This study investigated the applicability of a transactional stress theory to the understanding of countertransference. Therapists' stress appraisals and countertransference manifestations were examined in light of their own male gender role attitudes and the gender role conformity of their male client. The study was a counseling analogue in which therapists were randomly assigned to either a nontraditional or traditional male client videotaped vignette. Therapists' male gender role attitudes were measured via self-report. The mediator variables, chosen in accord with a transactional stress theory, were therapists' stress appraisals (i.e., primary stress appraisals and self-efficacy perceptions). Criterion variables were therapists' countertransference manifestations (i.e., avoidance behavior, ratings of the client's functioning, and hesitance in responding to the client). Contrary to expectations, therapists' male gender role attitudes and male client gender role conformity did not interact to predict therapists' stress appraisals or countertransference manifestations. Significant relationships were found, however, between the stress appraisal and countertransference manifestation variables, as predicted by the transactional theory of stress. The implications of these results for theory, research, and clinical application were discussed.
