The Relationship of Ethnicity Ethnic Identity and Problem Type to Preferences for Counselor Race in College Students: A Survey of African-American and European-American Students

African-American and European-American participants were surveyed to determine the relationship of ethnicity, ethnic identity, and type of presenting problem on preferences for counselor ethnicity. Participants indicated their preferences for counselor characteristics, including ethnicity, for personal and academic problems. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and regression techniques. The results indicated that African American participants prefer ethnically similar counselors and all participants with high ethnic identity prefer ethnically similar counselors. The results suggested that participants prefer different characteristics for different problems. Participants indicated more willingness to seek help for academic problems. Ethnicity was a significant predictor of preference for an ethnically similar counselor for personal problems. Conclusions were that the effects of problem type and European American ethnic identity on preferences for counselor characteristics need to be studied further.