Epistemology and Psychotherapists: Clarifying the Link among Epistemic Style, Experience, and Therapist Characteristics

EPISTEMOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPISTS: CLARIFYING THE LINK AMONG
EPISTEMIC STYLE, EXPERIENCE, AND THERAPIST CHARACTERISTICS
















By

GIZEM AKSOY


A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA


2005

































Copyright 2005

by

Gizem Aksoy















ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my advisor and committee chair, Dr. Greg J. Neimeyer, my

beloved husband, Ferit Toska, and my dear friend Burhan Ogut for their extensive

guidance, support and encouragement. I am thankful for the assistance given to me by my

committee members, Dr. Kenneth Rice and Dr. Michael Farrar. I am grateful to my

family and my friends in Turkey and in Gainesville for their love and support. I could not

have done this project without their help.
















TABLE OF CONTENTS



A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S ................................................................................................. iii

LIST O F TA BLE S ........................... .. .......... ......................... ......... vi

ABSTRACT .............. ..................... .......... .............. vii

CHAPTER

1 IN TR OD U CTION ............................................... .. ......................... ..

Epistem ic Style ........................................................................................ ......... 2
Personal Epistem ology and Personal Qualities ........................................ .................4
Personal Epistemology and Psychotherapy ........ ........ ..... ...... ............7
Epistem ic Style and Psychotherapy Theories............................. .....................8
Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Preferences............................................8
Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Practices ..................... .................. .......... 9
Epistem ic Style and Psychotherapists ............................................. ............... 14
Epistem ic Style and Experience ........................................ ........................... 17
Aim of the Present Study and Hypotheses ......... ................... .... ...... ..............18

2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................ ........................ 20

E pistem ic Style ....................... .. .. ............ ................................... ... ...... 2 1
Personal Implications of Epistemic Style................................ ................ 24
Practical Im plications of Epistem ic Style........................................ ............... 30
Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Theories..........................................31
Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Preferences....................................33
Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Practices............................................. 38
T h in k in g sty le ............................................. ................ 4 0
F ocu s of therapy ... ....................................................... .. ...... .. ..... 4 1
Direction of therapy ................. ............ ...... ....... .............42
Therapeutic relationship ...... ................. ....................42
Conceptualization of central constructs ....................................... .......... 43
Conceptualization of change ....................... ................. ............... .... 45
Epistemic Style and Psychotherapists' Characteristics and Experiences...................47
Pursuit of Self-Aw areness ............................................................................48
A tten ding to E m otion s.............................................................. .....................50
Tolerance for Ambiguity ......... ................................... 51










Social Tolerance for D iversity..................................... ......................... ......... 53
O penness to E experience .............................................. ............. ............... 55
Epistemology and Psychotherapy Experience ......................................57
Purpose of the Study ................. ............... ....................... .. .. ....... 60

3 M E T H O D S ........................................................................................................... 6 2

P a rtic ip a n ts ........................................................................................................... 6 2
P ro c e d u re ......... ...........................................................................................6 2
In stru m e n ts ........................................................................................................... 6 3

4 R E S U L T S .............................................................................6 9

Demographics ........................ .......................69
D escriptives and Prelim inary Analyses ................................................ ...............70
P rim ary A n aly se s .................................................................................................. 7 3

5 D ISC U S SIO N ....................................................................... ..................................... 79

Summary of the Results ...................... .. ...................79
Link between Constructivist Epistemologies and Therapist Characteristics .............80
Link between Rationalist Epistemologies and Therapist Characteristics ................ 81
Link between Therapy Experience and Therapist Characteristics ..........................82
Epistemology-by-Experience Interaction on Therapist Characteristics .....................84
Limitations of the Present Study and Directions for Future Research .....................86
C o n c lu sio n ................................................... ......................................... .................. 9 1

APPENDIX

A CONSTRUCTIVIST ASSUMPTION SCALE (CAS) ............................................93

B THERAPIST ATTITUDE QUESTIONNAIRE-SHORT FORM (TAQ-SF) ............94

C PRIVATE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE ....................................................96

D ATTENDING TO EM OTION S ....................................................... 97

E MULTIPLE STIMULUS TYPES AMBIGUITY TOLERANCE........................ 98

F T O L E R A N C E SC A L E ............................................................................................. 100

G OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE SCALE ...... .............................101

H DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION .................................................................. 102

L IST O F R E F E R E N C E S ........................................................................................... 104

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................................. ...............110



v
















LIST OF TABLES

Table page

1 Summary statistics of variables of interest.................... .......... .............. 71

2 Intercorrelations among the variables of interest .............................................72

3 Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses on the five dependent
v a riab le s .......................................................................... 7 7















Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science

EPISTEMOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPISTS: CLARIFYING THE LINK AMONG
EPISTEMIC STYLE, EXPERIENCE, AND THERAPIST CHARACTERISTICS

By

Gizem Aksoy

December 2005

Chair: Greg J. Neimeyer
Major Department: Psychology

The present study examined the relationship among epistemic style, therapist

characteristics and therapists' experience of conducting psychotherapy, and aimed to

clarify whether divergent epistemologies predict different levels of therapist

characteristics, and whether epistemic style can predict further differential

psychotherapist change as an impact of years spent in clinical practice.

Findings suggested that higher constructivism scores predicted higher levels of

pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance for

individual diversity, and openness to experience, whereas higher rationalism scores

predicted lower levels of these characteristics. The obtained results failed to support any

epistemology-by-practice interactions on therapists' personal qualities.

The present study extended the developing literature on epistemology as a factor

influencing psychotherapists' personal characteristics. Additional work is needed to









understand how epistemology is interwoven with psychotherapists' professional and

personal lives.















CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Epistemic style refers to an individual's prevailing set of assumptions regarding the

way in which knowledge is acquired, organized and developed. A broad range of therapy

variables have been shown to correlate with epistemic style (e.g., Johnson et al., 1988;

Lyddon, 1989a; Lyddon & Adamson, 1992; Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Neimeyer et al.,

1993). Epistemic styles have been linked to several personal characteristics, as well as to

the theory and practice of psychology. It has been suggested that the impact of epistemic

style can be extended to psychotherapists' personal characteristics and experiences, and

to the impact of conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists (Neimeyer, Saferstein, &

Arnold, 2005). However, to date there is no empirical evidence that links different

epistemic styles to different psychotherapist characteristics or experiences. The present

study attempts to clarify the link between epistemic style and therapist characteristics by

investigating whether a therapist's epistemic style can predict conceptually related

aspects of his or her personality or characteristic ways of relating to therapeutically

relevant experience.

In order to provide the groundwork of the present study we first review the existing

literature on epistemic style that relates epistemic style to psychotherapists' experience,

and explain how epistemic style can predict a range of therapeutically relevant variables.

Next, we outline five psychotherapist variables that are expected to vary according to the

therapist's epistemic style. These include pursuit of self-awareness, attending to









emotions, tolerance of ambiguity, social tolerance of diversity, and openness to

experience. Finally, we outline our predictions and summarize our research questions.

Epistemic Style

Our effort to explore the link between epistemic style and psychotherapists'

personal characteristics and experiences requires a clear understanding of what epistemic

styles are and how they are differentiated from one another. Epistemic style reflects the

way an individual evaluates and tests the validity of his or her knowledge. Pepper's

(1942) Root-Metaphor Theory, and Royce's (1964) Theory of Knowledge have been

employed frequently in studies investigating the implications of epistemic style. Their

approaches to the ways of knowing and organizing knowledge provide useful windows

onto the expected interaction between epistemic styles, personal qualities and

psychotherapy.

Pepper (1942) suggested four different ways of seeing the world and organizing

experience. The first way of seeing the world is Formism, which assumes that reality

operates within a set of predetermined universal forms and types, and that the essence of

an object is discovered via its similarity to other objects. The second way of seeing the

world is Mechanism, which assumes a machine-like deterministic universe in which

observable effects are caused by natural factors. The third way of seeing the world is

Contextualism, which assumes that meaning is embedded in the context and an event

makes sense only when it is considered within its context. The fourth way of seeing the

world is Organicism, which assumes that reality is dialectically-constructed and evolves

over time by differentiation and integration. Contextualistic and organismic worldviews

were recognized to be similar in nature, and Mechanism and Organicism has been

considered two antithetical worldviews within this framework.










A complementary taxonomy has been proposed by Royce and his colleagues

(Royce, 1964; Royce & Powell, 1983). Royce's Theory of Knowledge specifies three

fundamental ways of knowing, namely empiricism, rationalism and metaphorism (Royce,

1964; Royce & Powell, 1983). Empiricists use their perceptual cognitive processes

dominantly and they assume that the true knowledge can be obtained by reliable and

consensual validation of data obtained by our senses. Rationalists use their conceptual

cognitive processes dominantly, and they assume that the key to the true knowledge is

logical consistency. Metaphorists use their symbolic cognitive processes dominantly, and

they suggest the viability of knowledge is more important than its validity.

These distinct epistemologies can be summarized within the dichotomy of

rationalist and constructivist epistemologies that has become common within the recent

psychotherapy literatures (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). On the one hand, rationalist

epistemologies propose that reality is independent of the observer and individuals

experience the reality directly. Rationalist epistemologies can include those identified as

a Mechanistic Worldview (Pepper, 1942), social-deterministic worldview (Berzonsky,

1994), Objectivist Simple Worldview (Botella & Gallifa, 1995), or simply Rationalism

(Royce, 1964). These epistemologies are based on the assumption that human beings are

passive recipients of a reality external to themselves that is itself stable, universal, and

potentially knowable. They value the validity of knowledge, and knowledge is considered

valid to the extent to which it matches external reality (Neimeyer, 1993). Constructivist

epistemologies, on the other hand, view reality as constructed within the fabric of

personal and social processes of interaction, leaving the individual as a participant-

observer in the processes of reality construction. As a consequence, individuals can only









know reality indirectly, and cannot be separated from the reality that they perceive.

Constructivist epistemologies may include Organicism (Pepper, 1942), Constructivist

Complex Worldview (Botella & Gallifa, 1995), and Metaphorism (Royce, 1964). These

are all based on the assumption that human beings actively construe their own reality and

that this reality is dynamic and contextual (Lyddon, 1988; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988).

They seek viable knowledge that is internally consistent and consensually validated

(Neimeyer, 1993).

Two fields of study have examined the relationship between personal

epistemologies and aspects of psychotherapy. The first field has explored the relationship

between epistemic style and a range of personal qualities and characteristics. The second

field addresses the ways in which epistemic style interacts with psychological theories

and psychotherapy approaches.

Personal Epistemology and Personal Qualities

Personal epistemologies have been linked to factors such as personality, intellectual

style, cognitive complexity, self-construction and coping style (Berzonsky, 1994;

Johnson et al., 1988; Neimeyer et al., 1993). Taken together, the literature on the

relationship between epistemic style and various personal characteristics suggests that

they related to one another in predictable ways. Johnson and his colleagues (1988), for

example, explored the association between epistemic worldviews and personality traits,

and linked personal worldviews to personality variables and intellectual style. Their

findings revealed that individuals with a mechanistic worldview were more likely to be

conventional and conforming, whereas individuals with an organismic worldview tended

to be characterized by intellectual efficiency, flexibility, imaginativeness, empathy,

tolerance, femininity, social-presence, self-acceptance, responsibility and autonomy.










Babbage and Ronan (2000) supported the idea that there are holistic differences in

the personality profiles of the individuals committed to opposing worldviews. Replicating

and extending the findings of Johnson et al. (1988), they revealed that organismically-

oriented scientists were more likely to be women, to be social scientist, and to be

characterized by imagination, compassion, good-nature, eagerness for cooperation and

having a broad variety o interests, whereas mechanistically-oriented scientists were likely

to be men, to be traditional scientists, and to be characterized by practicality,

hardheadedness, skepticism, pride, competitiveness, traditionalism and preservation

(Babbage & Ronan, 2000).

Neimeyer and his colleagues (1993) questioned whether the way a person acquires

self-knowledge and constructs his or her identity can be explained by that person's

epistemological commitments. Their study linked epistemic style to Berzonsky's (1990)

styles of conducting personal science. Berzonsky (1990) asserted that individuals

construct and process their identities in three different ways. The first is the information-

oriented self-theorists who tend to be skeptical about their constructions, open to

evidence, and willing to incorporate new information and modify their self-constructions

when there is discrepancy. The second is the normative-oriented self-theorists who base

their self-definition on significant others' norms. They are more likely to preserve their

existing self-constructs. The third is the diffuse-oriented self-theorists that are

characterized by the lack of defined self. Neimeyer et al. (1993) found that rational

epistemic style was positively correlated with information-oriented style, while

metaphorical epistemic style was negatively correlated with normative-oriented style.

Their results suggested that rationalists tended to collect information and built their sense











of self from that point, whereas metaphorists tended to reject others' norms and

expectations when they define their identity (Neimeyer et al., 1993).

Berzonsky (1994) further studied the relationship between epistemic worldview

and individual differences in self-construction, i.e. the style of conducting personal

science. The results of his study suggested that organismic worldviews and constructivist

epistemological assumptions were associated with information-oriented style of self-

construction, while mechanistic worldviews and social-deterministic epistemology were

associated with normative-oriented style (Berzonsky, 1994). Individuals with mechanistic

or formistic worldviews were more likely to follow others' expectations and orders when

they constructed and maintain their sense of self if they did not avoid their self-

construction process altogether. Individuals with contextual and organismic worldviews

and constructivist epistemologies were more likely to work like a scientist on their self-

project, analyzing the data and making the necessary changes. These findings suggested

that the way individuals construct their identity can be predicted by their personal

epistemologies, and that the way individuals with metaphorist epistemologies, contextual

and organismic worldviews and constructivist epistemological assumptions tended to be

open to experience and active in their identity-construction processes (Babbage & Ronan,

2000; Berzonsky, 1994; Caputi & Oades, 2001; Neimeyer et al., 1993).

Studying the relationship between epistemic worldview and individual differences

in self-construction, Berzonsky (1994) also reported an association between epistemology

and type of coping strategies. Individuals with constructivist epistemologies were more

likely to seek social support and to engage in problem-solving as coping mechanisms.









This finding implied that epistemic style may shape the way an individual deal with

personal difficulties.

Botella and Gallifa (1995) have linked epistemic style to cognitive complexity,

regarded as the richness of an individual's conceptual structure in the domain of personal

knowledge. They reported a significant relationship between organismic worldview,

constructivist epistemic assumptions, and cognitive complexity. Mechanistic worldview

and objectivist epistemic assumptions were associated with cognitive simplicity (Botella

& Gallifa, 1995). These findings were consistent with the assumptions of these

worldviews. Organismic worldview and constructivist epistemologies promote ideas such

as reality is multiple and growth is continuous and complex that may require or facilitate

the development of cognitive complexity and flexibility on the part of their adherents.

Assumptions of mechanistic worldview and objectivist epistemologies such as reality is

singular, stable and external, and that the world can be grasped by studying linear cause-

effect relationships may facilitate or be satisfied with their adherents' cognitive

simplicity.

Personal Epistemology and Psychotherapy

A thorough understanding of epistemic style's relationship to theories and practices

of psychology is essential to understand whether epistemic style can be linked to the

psychotherapists' personal characteristics and experiences. Literature connecting the

epistemic style to psychology can be investigated with respect to three interdependent

sets of studies. First, epistemic worldviews have been related to the theories of

psychotherapy (Lyddon, 1989b; Sarbin, 1986, as cited in Botella & Gallifa, 1995).

Second, epistemic worldviews have been related to therapy preferences of prospective

clients and prospective and practicing psychotherapists (Lyddon, 1989a; Neimeyer et al.,









1993; Neimeyer & Morton, 1997; Schacht & Black, 1985). And third, epistemic

worldviews have been employed to differentiate among forms of psychotherapy

intervention (Lyddon, 1988; Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988).

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Theories

The literature investigating the link between epistemic style and psychology has

examined how theories of psychotherapy are related to various epistemologies.

Researchers have discussed which epistemologies underlie which theories of psychology

and psychotherapy on a conceptual basis. Pepper's (1946) formistic worldview has been

associated with the trait models of personality, and psychiatric diagnostic practices. A

mechanistic worldview has been associated with Freudian theory, behaviorism and

rationalist cognitive therapies (Lyddon, 1989b). Contextualistic worldview has been

linked with Bandura's revised social-learning perspective, Rice and Greenberg's change

process research program, and existential approaches reflect the contextualistic thinking

(Lyddon, 1989b). An organicist worldview has been associated with developmental,

humanistic and transpersonal movements and systems thinking (Lyddon, 1989b).

Respectively, behavioral, rationalist and constructivist approaches to psychotherapy were

identified as sharing the tenets of the empirical, rational, and metaphorical epistemic

styles of Royce's (1964) theory of knowledge (Lyddon, 1991).

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Preferences

College students' preferences for various counseling approaches (Lyddon, 1989a;

Lyddon & Adamson, 1992) have been associated with their epistemic style. Participants

with empirical, rational, and metaphorical epistemic styles preferred behavioral,

rationalist and constructivist therapy approaches, respectively (Lyddon, 1989a).

Likewise, participants with an organismic worldview preferred constructivist approaches,









while participants with a mechanistic worldview preferred behavioral approaches

(Lyddon & Adamson, 1992). The match between therapy approach preference and

epistemic style was replicated for counselor trainees (Neimeyer et al., 1993), and

practicing counselors and psychotherapists (Neimeyer & Morton, 1997; Schacht & Black,

1985); both lay people and practitioners reported preference for therapies that shared their

own epistemological framework.

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Practices

Epistemic style has been conceptually linked to the different theories of psychology

and has been linked to the psychotherapy preferences of lay people, as well as

psychotherapists. Epistemic style has also been conceptually linked to the practice-related

attitudes and behaviors of psychotherapists. It has been suggested further that epistemic

styles could differentiate among different types of cognitive therapy (Lyddon, 1988;

Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988).

Mahoney and Lyddon (1988) highlighted epistemological differences that

undergird the wide range of different forms of cognitive psychotherapy. He suggested

that differences in the psychotherapists' psychotherapy related attitudes and behaviors

could be explained by divergent epistemological commitments of rationalism and

constructivism. Rationalist and constructivist epistemologies, then, facilitated the

differentiation among the different therapy approaches labeled as cognitive therapies. It

was suggested that rationalist and constructivist approaches mainly differ in their

understanding of reality and knowledge, and this difference reflects upon the way therapy

is conceived and conducted. Therapists with rational epistemic commitments are

primarily characterized by their belief in a-priori truths that are independent of the

observer (Mahoney, Lyddon, & Alford, 1989). Individuals passively perceive reality as










singular and universal. Rationalist therapies aim to relieve the clients of their distress by

replacing clients' irrational thoughts with rational ones. Therapists with constructivist

epistemic commitments emphasize the active involvement of human beings in the

construction of their realities (Mahoney et al., 1989). Reality is multiple and contextual.

Constructivist therapies reject knowing the solution of clients' concerns and aim to

explore the reality of the clients rather than providing solutions based within the

framework of the therapists' worldviews.

These differences in epistemologies were linked to the practice of psychotherapy in

detail. Conceptually, rationalist and constructivist therapies were differentiated in

therapists' thinking style, focus and direction of therapy, conceptualization of therapeutic

relationship, client problem, resistance, emotional distress, relapse and regression

(Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987), and level of intervention (Lyddon, 1990). The empirical

evidence supported that therapists identified with rationalist and constructivist

epistemologies differed in the way they set the direction of the therapy, in the way they

related to client and in the way they conceptualized and worked with their clients'

emotional distress, relapse and regression (Nagae & Nedate, 2001; Vasco, 1994; Viney,

1994; Winter & Watson, 1999).

To begin with, rationalist and constructivist therapies were differentiated in

therapists' thinking style. Rationalist cognitive therapies have been associated with a

basic thinking style, simple format, and clear-cut methods, while constructivist cognitive

therapies have a complicated thinking style, complex format, and unclear methods

(Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Winter and Watson (1999) empirically supported the idea

that constructivist epistemologies' tended to be more complex by establishing that clients










in personal construct therapies used more complex levels of processing during therapy

compared to the clients in cognitive therapies. Consistent with this idea, Vasco (1994)

found that a commitment to constructivist epistemologies predicted technical eclecticism.

Second, rationalist and constructivist therapies were differentiated in therapy focus.

Rationalist cognitive therapies tend to focus on the clients' present problem, irrational

thoughts and the elimination of them, while constructivist cognitive therapies tend to

focus on history and development processes rather than the problem (Mahoney &

Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney et al., 1989). Empirical support came from the findings of Vasco

(1994) that revealed a negative correlation between constructivist epistemic commitments

and therapist focus on the "problems" of the client. Therapists with constructivist

epistemologies were less likely to focus on clients' problems.

Third, rationalist and constructivist therapies were differentiated in the direction of

the therapy. Rationalist cognitive therapies tend to set specific client goals and determine

the direction of the therapy at the very beginning of the therapy, while constructivist

cognitive therapies tend to determine the route of the therapy without an explicit or

external direction (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Vasco (1994) supported this assumption

by establishing that the more therapists are committed to constructivist epistemology, the

less they lean on therapeutic structure and direction.

Fourth, they were differentiated in the nature of the client-therapist relationship.

Rationalist cognitive therapies and constructivist cognitive therapies value different kinds

of relationships. Rationalist therapists tend to be objective and analytical in their

relationship with clients, while constructivist therapists tend to have personal and

emotionally intense relationships with their clients (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). This










assumption has been validated empirically with various groups of participants. Winter

and Watson (1999) established that personal construct psychotherapists took a less

directive approach than rationalists therapists. Moreover, rationalist therapists exhibited

less empathy, regard, and unconditionality for clients and they reflected more negative

attitude towards the client than personal construct therapists did. Vasco (1994) observed

that Portuguese therapists with constructivist commitments also tended to reject more

directive helping styles. Nagae and Nedate (2001) confirmed these results with a group of

Japanese therapists. Their findings suggested that rational cognitive therapists tended to

have higher levels of psycho-educational instruction, and that constructive cognitive

therapists were more successful in establishing rapport with their clients (Nagae &

Nedate, 2001).

Fifth, rationalist and constructivist therapies were differentiated in their

conceptualization of client problems, resistance, regression and relapse. Rationalist

cognitive therapies tend to conceptualize client problems as deficits or dysfunctions,

mental mistakes, or irrational beliefs, while constructivist therapies tend to define client

problems as indicators of the discrepancies between external challenges and internal

capacities (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Rationalist therapists tend to view negative

emotions as a problematic outcome of the discontinuity between the reality and its'

perception, and they aim to remove them, while constructivist therapists tend to view

negative emotions as an indicator of clients' current functioning, and they facilitate the

experience and exploration of negative emotions as means of meaning-making (Mahoney

& Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988). Viney (1994) found that personal construct

and client-centered therapists acknowledged the negative emotions of their clients more










than rational-emotive therapists. In a similar fashion, rationalist therapists tend to

perceive resistance, relapse and regression as an indicator of client failure in maintenance

and generalization of therapy outcomes, while constructivist therapists tended to perceive

resistance, relapse and regression as an indicator of clients' current capacity and efforts of

self-preservation (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Vasco (1994) found that therapists with

strong constructivist epistemologies were less likely to confront their clients when they

are faced with client resistance. Studying the transcripts of the two therapists who dealt

with client's failure to complete homework, Winter and Watson (1999) provided specific

examples for how a personal construct therapist and a rationalist therapist differed in the

way they dealt with client resistance. Rationalist therapist approach was defined as

pedagogical with an effort to convince the client to complete the homework, whereas

personal construct therapist followed an exploratory approach with an effort to

understand the dynamics of client's failure to complete it.

And finally, rationalist and constructivist therapies were differentiated in their

conceptualization of change. Rationalist approaches to therapy tend to seek first-order

change where change is made on the surface level without disturbing the existing

systems, while therapies with constructivist commitments tend to facilitate second-order

change where change involves fundamental restructuring of the existing systems

(Lyddon, 1990).

Altogether, these conceptual and empirical works suggest that epistemologies

underlying therapy approaches can differentiate the way psychotherapists construct and

conduct psychotherapy. To some extent, epistemologies underlying different therapy

approaches elicit divergent practices. Therapists thinking style, way of orchestrating









therapy session, focus, sense of direction, relationship with the client, understanding and

dealing with client problem, resistance, emotional distress, relapse and regression can

differ depending upon how the therapists and their therapy approach tend to know the

world (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Lyddon, 1990). Where epistemologies color how

therapists construct and conduct therapy and how therapists relate to their clients,

therapists conducting therapy with diverse epistemologies are expected to have different

experiences. The nature of therapy defined by epistemological commitments will

construct different sets of experiences for the therapists. Overall, the literature suggests

that epistemic worldviews have been conceptually and empirically related to the theories

of psychotherapy, to therapy preferences of prospective clients and prospective and

practicing psychotherapists, and to the forms of intervention. This link between epistemic

styles and the theories and practices of psychology suggests a potential link between

epistemic style and personal characteristics and experiences of practicing

psychotherapists.

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapists

Mahoney (1995) suggested that epistemic style can be related to psychotherapists'

personal qualities as well as their experiences of conducting psychotherapy. He

investigated the distinctive demands of constructivist therapies, and provided one of the

first conceptualizations of the link between epistemologies and psychotherapists'

personal characteristics and experiences. Basic tenets of constructivist epistemologies

require therapists with constructivist commitments to be open to self-understanding

(Mahoney, 1995). For instance, the assumption that reality is actively constructed by

humans and the knowledge can only be obtained indirectly remind constructivist

therapists that their understanding of a client will be limited by their perceptions and










constructions. As a result, constructivist therapists need to seek awareness of their own

tendencies and biases to work effectively with their clients. Since therapists' emotional

presence is regarded as a powerful facilitator in constructivist therapy, constructivist

therapies tend to be more emotionally loaded, and require greater emotional presence and

attendance on the part of the therapist (Mahoney, 1995). Then, therapists with

constructivist commitments can be tuned to emotions. Constructivist therapies are less

structured and less determined (Mahoney, 1995); therapists do not assume an authority

role or presume correct understanding of their clients' realities, and they move towards

outcomes that are not fully determined in advance, while acknowledging unconscious as

well as conscious processes in therapy. Taken collectively, these features may require

high levels of ambiguity tolerance. Mahoney (1995) suggested that constructivist

therapists may also be more accepting of diversity as they believe that values that are

always present during psychotherapy or any other human interaction are subjective and

that individual differences always remain relative to a set of norms within a context.

Interacting with, and being conscious about, the uniqueness of each client in a given

personal, social and historical context, constructivist therapists may be expected to have

high levels of diversity tolerance. The very basic tenet of constructivist epistemologies

that humans actively construct their own knowledge and beliefs may also imply being

open to alternative constructions and experiences.

Rationalist and constructivist approaches constitute largely complementary and

their differences reflect upon the way therapy is conceived and conducted (Lyddon, 1988;

Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988). Rationalist epistemologies can be

expected to be less predisposed towards a pursuit of self-awareness, attending to










emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity, and openness to

experience. Since rationalist therapists tend to believe that they are objective observers of

a stable and single and universal reality, and that they can correct their clients' faulty

cognitions of reality, they may place fewer demands on the therapist to be insightful

about their personal experiences such as emotions, thoughts or motivations. Since

rationalist perspective views emotions simply as outcomes of cognitions that are not

central to the realization of the external reality, rationalist therapists can be less likely to

need special attunement to emotions. The relatively simple and straightforward approach

of rationalist epistemology within psychotherapy might be expected to leave less room

for ambiguity; therefore, less need for having or developing ambiguity tolerance.

Rationalism that encourages a distant relationship with clients may not require its

adherents to face the uniqueness of their clients or to appreciate and tolerate diversity.

Although multicultural sensitivity is incorporated in any practice, the nature of rationalist

therapies may not demand a deep appreciation of human differences, including cultural

difference regarding the construction of reality and human experience. Followers of

rationalist epistemologies may not need to be as open to new understandings or

experiences either, as reality is single and set and as therapists are adequate authority

figures to assist clients in their psychological problems. The determined, definitive and

confident nature of this epistemological standpoint might be associated with lower levels

of personal openness.

The literature on the association of epistemology with sets of personal

characteristics also supported the expectation that constructivist epistemologies would be

positively related to these psychotherapist characteristics when rationalist epistemologies









would be negatively related. Empirical evidence suggested that social tolerance and

openness to experience were positively related to organismic worldview and negatively

related to the mechanistic worldview (Babbage & Ronan, 2000; Johnson et al., 1988).

Finding that organismically-oriented individuals were more likely to be empathic

(Johnson et al., 1988) may provide evidence regarding the greater attending to emotions

skills for these individuals. Similarly, finding that cognitive flexibility was positively

related to organismic worldviews and negatively related to mechanistic worldview

(Botella & Gallifa, 1995) supports the expectation that ambiguity tolerance and openness

to experience can be associated with differing worldviews the same way since they are

conceptually related to cognitive flexibility (Beitel, Ferrer, & Cecero, 2004).

Epistemic Style and Experience

Neimeyer et al. (2005) have noted the promising link between epistemic style and

personal impact of conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists, and they suggested

that the impact of epistemic style on practice can be extended to understanding the ways

in which psychotherapists may experience psychotherapy.

The general impact of practicing psychotherapy has been established with self-

reports of practicing psychotherapists. Psychotherapists reported that they have

experienced personal change as a result of conducting psychotherapy. Among other

things, psychotherapists have reported that conducting psychotherapy has increased their

emotional exhaustion, despair, self-awareness, appreciation for other human beings, and

tolerance for ambiguity (Farber, 1983; Radeke & Mahoney, 2000). They also have

reported change in their value systems (Radeke & Mahoney, 2000). Neimeyer et al.

(2005) proposed that distinctive marks can be left by the divergent practices related to

different epistemologies, and the current study attempts to clarify how different









epistemologies may register different impacts on psychotherapists across time. One

implication of this proposal might concern the differing relationship between epistemic

style and therapist characteristics across the course of conducting psychotherapy. In other

words, it suggests the possibility that rationalism or constructivism might be differentially

linked to the pursuit of self-awareness, a tolerance for ambiguity, an openness to

experience, and so forth, as therapists accrue greater psychotherapy experience across

time.

Mahoney (1995) asserted that conducting therapy in any forms within any

framework would have its own challenges, yet conducting therapy with constructivist

mindset amplifies the challenges of conducting therapy. Thus, the personal change

introduced by conducting therapy might have been positively moderated by constructivist

epistemologies such that therapists with higher levels of constructivist commitments

might become increasingly attuned to emotionality, tolerant of ambiguity and differences,

and open to experience over the course of their professional careers. In contrast,

therapists with higher levels of rationalist commitments might be expected to show a

decrease in their levels of these factors as they gain increasing confidence regarding their

perceptions of reality and their effectiveness in working with clients from within this

rationalist framework. That is to say the various therapist characteristics can be

differentially related to the psychotherapy practice by levels of one's constructivist and

rationalist tendencies.

Aim of the Present Study and Hypotheses

In light of the empirical and conceptual literature reviewed here, the present study

aimed to clarify the relationship between epistemic style, therapist characteristics and

therapists' experience of conducting psychotherapy and to address the impact of years









spent in practice on psychotherapists as a function of therapist epistemic style. Mainly,

how therapists' commitment to rationalist and constructivist epistemologies were related

to their personal characteristics when their level of experience is held constant was

investigated since it would be the first step of discerning whether and how therapists

experience of conducting psychotherapy differs with their epistemological commitments.

The possible interaction between epistemology and personal impact of practice would be

examined as well.

Specific hypotheses were identified in the order of importance as (1) levels of

constructivist epistemology will predict higher levels of therapist pursuit of self-

awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity

and openness to experience when the number of years spent in clinical practice was

controlled, (2) levels of rationalism will predict lower levels of therapists pursuit of self-

awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity

and openness to experience when the years spent in clinical practice was controlled, and

(3) the epistemological commitment will moderate the personal impact of experience of

conducting psychotherapy such that constructivist epistemologies will be increasingly

related to those therapist characteristics and rationalist epistemologies will be

decreasingly related to them over the course of psychotherapeutic experience.














CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Mahoney (1988, 1995) has suggested that constructivist approaches to

psychotherapy introduce high numbers of emotional encounters and high levels of

ambiguity and diversity, and that such an approach to therapy requires higher levels of

pursuit of self-awareness, attention to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, and appreciation

of diversity on the part of constructivist therapists. However, there is no empirical

evidence that links epistemologies to psychotherapists' personal characteristics and

experience of psychotherapy. There is also no evidence suggesting that any given

therapist differences on such personal characteristics would be an outcome of the distinct

demands of therapies fueled by diverse epistemologies. Whether epistemic style

underlying psychotherapy approaches can predict differential therapist characteristics as

well as differential effects of conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists needs to be

clarified.

In order to provide the groundwork for exploring this question, the present chapter

reviews the existing literature on epistemic style, and links the epistemic style to

psychotherapists' experience. The first three sections of the present chapter reflect critical

reviews of the epistemic style literature and the literature linking epistemic style to

personal characteristics, psychology theories and psychotherapy practices. In the fourth

section, literature linking epistemic style to psychotherapists' experience of

psychotherapy is reviewed in order to explain how epistemic style can predict personal

impact of conducting psychotherapy on the psychotherapist. The next section outlines









five psychotherapist variables that are expected to vary according to the epistemic style.

These include pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance of ambiguity,

social tolerance for diverse values and beliefs, and openness to experience. Finally, the

hypotheses that are examined in the present study are presented.

Epistemic Style

Personal epistemology is one's theory about knowing and knowledge. Epistemic

style reflects the way an individual evaluates and tests the validity of his or her

knowledge. Epistemologies had been categorized into different groups by different

researchers. Two of these efforts, Pepper's (1942) Root-Metaphor Theory, and Royce's

(1964) Theory of Knowledge have been employed frequently in studies investigating the

implications of epistemologies.

In his Root-Metaphor Theory, Pepper (1942) suggested four different ways of

seeing the world and organizing experience, and tied down these world hypotheses to

four basic analogies, or root metaphors. The first way of seeing the world is Formism,

and it has been derived from the metaphor of similarities among entities. The formistic

worldview assumes that reality is within the set of predetermined universal forms and

types. Formists believe the essence of an object is discovered via its similarity to other

objects, and they engage in categorical analysis of single elements. In psychology, trait

models of personality, and psychiatric diagnostic practices reflect formistic thinking

(Lyddon, 1989b). The second way of seeing the world is Mechanism in which the world

resembles a machine. The mechanistic worldview assumes a machine-like deterministic

universe in which observable effects are caused by natural factors. Mechanists focus on

linear relationship between a single cause and a single event. In psychology, behaviorism









and rationalist cognitive therapies as well as some aspects of Freudian theory reflect the

mechanistic thinking (Lyddon, 1989b).

The third way of seeing the world is Contextualism, and historical events are used

as the root metaphor. The contextualistic worldview assumes the same event can be

viewed differently depending on its context. Meaning is embedded in the context, and

thus an event makes sense only when it is considered in its context, as it is in the case of

historical events. In psychology, Bandura's revised social-learning perspective, Rice and

Greenberg's change process research program, and existential approaches reflect the

contextualistic thinking (Lyddon, 1989b). The fourth way of seeing the world is

Organicism in which world is like a living organism. Organismic worldview assumes a

dialectically-constructed reality; reality evolves over time with increasing differentiation

and integration. Organicism differs from Contextualism with its emphasis on

"identification of universal and/or teleological principles that govern the functioning of

the phenomena" (Lyddon, 1989b, p. 443). In psychology, developmental, humanistic and

transpersonal movements and systems thinking and self-organizational processes reflect

organicist worldview (Lyddon, 1989b). Pepper (1942) claimed that that the

contextualistic and organismic worldviews were very similar to one another in nature

such that they can be assumed as one worldview. Mechanism and Organicism have been

considered two antithetical worldviews within this frame. Mechanism may represent the

dominant worldview of the modern era, while Contextualism and Organicism are

associated with the worldview of postmodern era. The Organicism-Mechanism Paradigm

Inventory (Germer, Efran, & Overton, 1982; OMPI) has been used to assess organismic

and mechanistic worldviews of the individuals, and Kramer's worldview beliefs measure









(Kramer, Kahlbaugh, & Goldston, 1992) has been employed to measure Pepper's four

world hypotheses.

Berzonsky (1994) suggested three types of hard-core epistemological assumptions.

These consist of formistic, social-deterministic, and constructivist worldviews.

Berzonsky (1994) developed the Constructivist Assumption Scale (CAS) to measure the

degree to which one endorses constructivist epistemological assumptions, as distinct from

formistic and social-deterministic worldviews. Botella and Gallifa's (1995) factor

analytic study further supported this dichotomy of worldviews. They identified two main

ways of knowing as Constructivist Complex Worldview versus Objectivist Simple

Worldview. The Constructivist Complex Worldview was related to the organicist

worldview, and mainly suggested that human beings actively construct their own reality.

Objectivist Simple Worldview, by comparison, was related to the mechanist worldview

that characterized world as a complex machine.

Another well-known conceptualization of personal epistemologies is Royce's

"Theory of Knowledge" (Royce, 1964; Royce & Powell, 1983). Theory of Knowledge

specifies three fundamental ways of knowing, namely empiricism, rationalism and

metaphorism (Royce, 1964; Royce & Powell, 1983). Royce had pointed out that people

draw upon three different cognitive processes during their daily pursuits that are

perceptual, conceptual and symbolic cognitive processes. Yet there are individual

differences in which cognitive processes were used more dominantly over others. Royce

and his colleagues suggested that one of these three cognitive processes would be

dominantly employed over the others, and the dominantly used cognitive process would

indicate the individuals' dominant way of understanding the world and handling the









information. Empiricists use their perceptual cognitive processes dominantly. The

empirical approach to knowledge favors induction, and assumes that the true knowledge

can be obtained by reliable and consensual validation of data obtained by our senses.

Rationalists use their conceptual cognitive processes dominantly. Rationalism favors

deduction over induction and assumes that the key to the true knowledge is logical

consistency. Metaphorists use their symbolic cognitive processes dominantly.

Metaphorism suggests that the viability of knowledge is more important than its validity.

Metaphorists argue that knowledge is constructed symbolically and they analyze

information by analogies. Rational and empirical approaches to knowledge underlie the

epistemic style of the modern era, while metaphorism taps onto the framework

underlying postmodern era.

Royce and Mos (1980) developed a questionnaire named Psycho-Epistemological

Profile (PEP) to assess individuals' epistemological commitments that has been

frequently employed by the following studies investigating the role of epistemic style in

the science and practice of psychology.

Personal Implications of Epistemic Style

Questioning how epistemologies are translated into our daily lives, researchers

investigated the personal implications of epistemic styles. Exploratory studies have begun

to suggest the impact of epistemic style on personal factors by successfully linking the

epistemic style to personal variables. Epistemologies have been linked to factors such as

personality characteristics, intellectual style, cognitive complexity, self-change, self-

construction and coping style (Babbage & Ronan, 2000; Berzonsky, 1994; Johnson et al.,

1988; Neimeyer et al., 1993).









Johnson and his colleagues (1988) explored the association between personality

traits and worldviews. They have collected data from a diverse sample composed of 12

groups (N= 622). Their findings related participants' worldviews to their intellectual

style, personality and occupational interests. Individuals with an organic worldview

tended to have higher levels of intuition, dominance, capacity for status, social presence,

self-acceptance, empathy, responsibility, tolerance, achievement via independence,

intellectual efficiency, and flexibility (all ps < .05). Individuals with an organic

worldview tended to score higher on self-control, communality and femininity (all ps <

.05). In terms of occupational interests, individuals who scored higher on Organicism

tended to score high on artistic and investigative vocational types, and low on

conventional vocational type (all ps < .05). In summary, individuals with mechanistic

worldviews were tended to be conventional, self-controlling, communal and masculine,

whereas individuals with organic worldviews tended to be intuitive, dominant, socially

present, self-accepting, empathic, responsible, tolerant, intellectually efficient and

flexible.

Babbage and Ronan (2000) replicated and extended the Johnson et al.'s (1988)

study, and examined the relationship between philosophical worldview and personality in

scientists across various disciplines (N= 94). Their study revealed gender difference in

orientation to organismic and mechanistic worldviews: Females tended to be

organismically-oriented whereas males tended to be mechanistically-oriented (p = .005).

Babbage and Ronan (2000) have linked personal worldview and scientific predilections

as they have found that scientist in traditional sciences such as Mathematics, Physics, and

Chemistry tended to have mechanistic orientation, whereas scientists in social sciences









such as Information Systems, Psychology and Social Anthropology tended to have

organismic orientation (all ps < .001). Babbage and Ronan (2000) also supported the idea

that there are holistic differences in the personality profiles of the individuals committed

to opposing worldviews. Organismically-oriented scientists were likely to be

characterized by imagination, compassion, good-nature, eagerness for cooperation and

having a broad variety of interests, whereas mechanistically-oriented scientists were

likely to characterized by practicality, hardheadedness, skepticism, pride,

competitiveness, traditionalism and preservation (all ps < .004). Babbage and Ronan

(2000) additionally revealed that organismically-oriented scientists also scored higher on

NEO-PI's Openness to Experience factor (p < .001).

Neimeyer and his colleagues (1993) questioned whether "the form and function of

an individual's attempts at knowledge acquisition and self-change" can be interdependent

with that person's epistemological commitments (p. 519), and they investigated the

relationship between Royce's (1964) ways of knowing and Berzonsky's (1990) styles of

conducting personal science. Berzonsky (1990) asserted that individuals construct and

process their identities in three different ways. The first is the information-oriented self-

theorists who tend to be skeptical about their constructions, open to evidence, and willing

to incorporate new information and modify their self-constructions when there is

discrepancy. The second is the normative-oriented self-theorists who base their self-

definition on significant others' norms. They are more likely to preserve their existing

self-constructs. The third is the diffuse-oriented self-theorists that are characterized by the

lack of defined self. Neimeyer et al. (1993) found that rational epistemic style was

positively correlated with information-oriented style (r = .35, p < .01), while









metaphorical epistemic style was negatively correlated with normative-oriented style (r -

-.26, p < .05). Metaphorical epistemic style was also positively correlated with the

information-oriented style (r = .24, p < .08) but this correlation failed to reach

significance. That is, individuals with rational commitments were characterized by high

levels of information seeking and by a scientist-like attitude towards their self-

construction in which they actively analyze and incorporate new information into the

definition of self. Individuals with metaphorical commitments were characterized by

openness as they reject others' norms and expectations when they define their identity.

The study showed that epistemic style can predict the way the person gathers, processes

and responds to self-relevant information. Considering how one processes and acts on

self-relevant information would be central to self-change, investigating styles of

conducting personal science was considered one way of investigating the processes of

self-change. The process of conducting personal science and process of self-change was

linked to the epistemic style.

Berzonsky (1994) further studied the relationship between epistemic worldview

and individual differences in self-construction, i.e. style of conducting personal science,

by focusing on constructivist epistemological assumptions and Pepper's worldviews.

Results of his study revealed a relationship between self-theorists style and

epistemological worldviews somewhat similar to Neimeyer et al.'s (1993) findings.

Organismic worldview and constructivist epistemological assumptions were positively

related with information-oriented style of self-construction (r = .20, p < .05; r = .42, p <

.01). Contextual worldview and constructivist epistemological assumptions were

negatively correlated with normative-oriented style (r = -.25,p < .01; r = -.29, p < .01).









Mechanistic and formistic worldviews were associated with normative-oriented style (r =

.34, p < .01; r = .25, p < .01). Diffuse/avoidant oriented style was related to formistic

assumptions (r = .20, p < .05). Caputi and Oades (2001) replicated these findings using

an Australian sample. Individuals with mechanistic or formistic worldviews were more

likely to follow others' expectations and orders when they constructed and maintain their

sense of self if they did not avoid their self-construction process altogether. Individuals

with contextual and organismic worldviews and constructivist epistemologies were more

likely to work like a scientist on their self-project, analyzing the data and exerting the

necessary changes.

Another personal variable that has been linked to epistemic style is coping style.

Studying the relationship between epistemic worldview and individual differences in self-

construction, Berzonsky (1994) reported an association between epistemology and type

of coping strategies. Constructivist epistemologies were positively correlated with

problem-focused coping strategies (r = .24, p < .01) and with seeking social support in

order to cope (r = .16, p < .05). These findings should not be surprising when we consider

that individuals with organismic worldview tended to be autonomous, imaginative,

intellectually flexible, socially tolerant and present, and eager to cooperate (Babbage &

Ronan, 2000; Johnson et al., 1988).

Cognitive complexity is another personal variable that can be predicted by

epistemic style. Botella and Gallifa (1995) defined cognitive complexity by the richness

of one's conceptual structure in a given domain, and they assessed their participants'

cognitive complexity in the domain of personal knowledge. Their findings indicated a

significant relationship between organismic worldview, constructivist epistemic









assumptions, and cognitive complexity (r = .57, p < .01). A mechanistic worldview and

objectivist epistemic assumptions were associated with cognitive simplicity. Organismic

and contextualistic worldviews and constructivist epistemic assumptions were associated

with cognitive complexity. This finding is consistent with the findings of Johnson et al.

(1988) and Babbage and Ronan (2000) that organismic worldview associated with

intellectual efficiency, flexibility, and having variety of interests and imagination; and

taken together, these findings are consistent with the assumptions of organismic

worldviews. The Organismic worldview and constructivist epistemologies suggest that

individuals actively construct their reality. They emphasize existence of multiple realities

and individual's continuous growth and change in dynamic and complex developmental

processes. Such an understanding should require cognitive complexity and flexibility to

deal with multiple constructions and facets of social and personal realities.

Taken together, research on the personal implications of epistemic style suggested

that personal characteristics may mirror personal epistemologies. Individuals with

rationalist epistemological commitments may tend to be conventional, conforming and

cognitively simplistic that is consistent with the rationalist assumption that people are

passive recipients of an external and stable reality. Individuals with constructivist

epistemological commitments may tend to be autonomous, imaginative, intellectually

flexible and complex, and interpersonally connected that is consistent with the

constructivist assumption that people actively create their own reality within their

dynamic interaction with the context.

Clarifying some of the ways that personal epistemologies color personal qualities

supports the exploration of the link between epistemology and psychotherapists' personal









characteristics and experiences. Yet our attempts to study whether diverse epistemologies

predict differential impact of conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists can be

clarified further and validated richer once the ways in which epistemologies color the

professional lives of psychologists was clarified. The literature on the implications of

epistemic style on theories and practice of psychology illuminates this connection

between epistemic style and psychology.

Practical Implications of Epistemic Style

The implications of epistemic style have reached beyond the study of personal

characteristics, and extended to the practice of psychology. The epistemological

implications of psychological theories and techniques have been investigated since the

1970's; and studying the philosophical worldviews has enhanced our understanding of

the process of therapy and counseling (Lyddon, 1989a). Epistemic style has been found

to play at least a moderate role in guiding the way lay people and psychologists develop

their attitudes and preferences for theories and practice of psychology.

Literature connecting the epistemic style to psychotherapy practice can be divided

into three interdependent sets of studies. First, epistemic worldviews have been related to

the theories of psychotherapy. Epistemologies underlying existing psychotherapy

approaches have been linked to theories of psychology (Lyddon, 1989b; Sarbin, 1986, as

cited in Botella & Gallifa, 1995). Second, epistemic worldviews have been related to the

therapy approach preferences of prospective clients and prospective and practicing

psychotherapists (Lyddon, 1989a; Neimeyer et al., 1993; Neimeyer & Morton, 1997;

Schacht & Black, 1985). And third, epistemic worldviews have been employed to

differentiate among forms of psychotherapy intervention (Lyddon, 1988; Mahoney &









Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988). Epistemic styles have been related to specific

conceptual and strategic practices in conduction psychotherapy.

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Theories

The first set of studies linking epistemologies to psychotherapy examined the

philosophical assumptions of the various therapy approaches. Lyddon (1989b) identified

contemporary expressions of the Pepper's (1946) worldviews in psychology theories and

practices. Theformistic worldview was reflected in trait models of personality, and

psychiatric diagnostic practices. Trait taxonomies classify traits based on the presence

and absence of personal characteristics; and psychiatric diagnostic system classifies

disorders based on the presence and absence of certain symptoms. Both assume stability

of the traits and disorders, and tend to ignore temporal and contextual factors. The

mechanistic worldview was reflected in behaviorism and rationalist cognitive therapies,

as well as in some aspects of Freudian theory. Behavioral approach characterizes human

beings as machines, and the behaviors of human beings are determined by antecedent

conditions. Rationalist cognitive therapies are mechanistic as they suggest that emotional

well-being is determined by beliefs and thoughts. Freud characterizes mind in

mechanistic terms and explains mental processes in terms of interactions and collisions of

psychological forces (Grof, 1985, as cited in Lyddon, 1989b). Mechanistic framework

within the behavioral, rationalist and Freudian approaches to therapy also exerts itself in

the shared assumptions that observer is separable from the entities of interest, and

observer can objectively identify the causal interactions among these entities. The

contextualist worldview was reflected in Bandura's revised social-learning theory,

patterns and processes of change identified by Rice and Greenberg, and existential

theories. Bandura's social learning theory highlights the importance of context in learning









and reciprocity between the person and environment. Rice and Greenberg emphasize

understanding and facilitating change processes within the context of specific client-

therapist interactions. Existential theories reflect the dynamic interactions of the human

with the world; being-in-the-world entails simultaneously acting on the world and being

acted on by the world. The organicist worldview was reflected in developmental theories,

humanistic and transpersonal movements, and systems thinking that commonly

emphasize individuals' active involvement in continuous, interactive, and complex

processes of self-evolution, self-actualization, self-transcendence, and self-organization.

Royce's theory of knowledge (Royce, 1964) was also theoretically associated with

the theories of psychology practice. Royce's (1964; Royce & Powell, 1983) empirical,

rational, and metaphorical epistemic styles were associated with behavioral, rationalist

and constructivist approaches to psychotherapy, respectively. Lyddon (1989a) suggested

that behavioral approaches to psychotherapy were founded on empiricism evident in

behaviorist therapists' emphasis on "the consensual, the objective, the empirical and the

realist" (p. 425). Rationalist cognitive psychotherapies were tied to rational epistemic

styles considering rationalist therapists' emphasis on conceptual cognitive abilities and

their depending upon logical analyses to challenge clients' irrational thinking (Lyddon,

1991). Metaphorical epistemic style was suggested to be the dominant framework of the

constructivist psychotherapies considering constructivist therapists' tendency to construct

client experiences symbolically and to explore and facilitate clients' developmental

processes (Lyddon, 1991).

These conceptual efforts suggest that psychotherapy theories may be related in

systematic ways to the epistemologies that undergird them. How these epistemologies









influence the attitudes and behaviors of these theories' adherents has been further

investigated; and epistemic style has been linked to psychotherapy preferences of clients

and psychotherapists.

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Preferences

Linking psychology and psychotherapy theories to the epistemic styles, Lyddon

(1990) suggested that matching epistemic styles of clients and psychotherapy approaches

could facilitate the therapy process and outcomes. The second set of studies linking

epistemologies to psychotherapy investigated this matching hypothesis, and these studies

specifically explored the impact of epistemic style on psychotherapy approach

preferences. Researchers empirically investigated how the theorized links between

epistemologies and psychology theories were reflected in real world attitudes and

behaviors. Lyddon (1989a) investigated whether potential clients may prefer therapy

approaches that are matching their own epistemic style. He focused on behaviorist,

rationalist and constructivist approaches to psychotherapy that were conceptually linked

to the empirical, rational, and metaphorical epistemic styles, respectively. He measured

epistemic styles of the college students, who were defined as potential clients, and asked

them to evaluate audiotaped presentations of behavioral, rationalist and constructivist

approach to psychotherapy, that were introduced by one-page descriptions. Results

suggested that participants with empirical, rational, and metaphorical epistemic styles

preferred behaviorist, rationalist and constructivist therapy approaches, respectively.

67.5% of the participants with empirical epistemic style preferred the behaviorist

counseling presentation as their first-choice. 70% of the participants with rational

epistemic style preferred the rationalist counseling presentation as their first-choice. 91%

of the participants with metaphorical epistemic style preferred the constructivist









counseling presentation as their first-choice. Findings suggested that people reported

preference for the therapy that shared their own epistemological framework; that is,

individuals' dominant epistemological commitments may influence their therapy

preferences.

Lyddon and Adamson (1992) replicated the study of Lyddon (1989a) by employing

Pepper's mechanistic and organismic worldviews. They explored whether participants'

dominant worldview can be matched to their psychotherapy approach preferences, as the

previous research matched the individuals' epistemic style with their psychotherapy

approach preferences. They measured participants' commitment to Mechanism or

Organicism employing OMPI, and asked them to evaluate scripts of behavioral,

rationalist and constructivist approaches to psychotherapy. Compared to participants with

a mechanistic worldview, participants with an organismic worldview preferred the

constructivist approach. Compared to participants with an organismic worldview,

participants with a mechanistic worldview preferred the behavioral approach. Participants

with an organismic worldview and a mechanistic worldview did not differ in their

preferences for rationalist approaches. Their findings suggested that lay people may tend

to prefer a therapy approach that is congruent with their philosophical worldviews.

Neimeyer et al., (1993) replicated and extended Lyddon's (1989a) and Lyddon and

Adamson's (1992) findings about matching college students' epistemic style to their

therapy approach preferences. A metaphorical epistemic style was negatively associated

with behavioral counseling preference ratings and it was positively associated with

constructivist counseling preference ratings. Individuals with metaphorical epistemic

style tended to have more negative thoughts about the behavioral approach and more









positive thoughts about the constructivist approach, while individuals with empirical

epistemic style tend to have more positive thoughts about behavioral approach.

Rationalist epistemic style appeared to be unrelated to preferences for rational, behavioral

and constructivist approaches. Their findings also suggested positive association between

metaphorical epistemic style, Organicism, and preference for constructivist counseling

approaches.

Lay people's dominant way of knowing was related to the preference for therapy

approach (Lyddon, 1989a; Lyddon & Adamson, 1992), and the results were extended to

the counselor trainees' preference for therapy approach (Neimeyer et al., 1993). Trainees

were presented with the names of seven counseling approaches (person centered, gestalt,

behavioral, rational-emotive, reality therapy, psychodynamic, transactional analysis) and

they were asked to indicate their preferences regarding the orientations. Their findings

suggested significant positive correlation of rational epistemic style with behavioral

therapy preference, and with rational-emotive theory approach preference. Metaphorical

epistemic style, on the other hand, correlated with gestalt therapy preference, behavioral

therapy preference, and rational-emotive theory approach preference. The findings were

somewhat different than the findings of the previous studies; yet they supported the

premise that epistemic styles can be a mediator for the counseling approach preference of

counselor trainees (Neimeyer et al., 1993).

Epistemologies tended to predict the therapy approach preference of counselors and

therapists as well (Arthur, 2000; Neimeyer & Morton, 1997; Schacht & Black, 1985).

Schacht and Black (1985) compared the epistemological commitments of behavioral and

psychoanalytic therapists, and they revealed that behavioral and psychoanalytic therapists









had distinct epistemological commitments. Their findings indicated that psychoanalysts

tended to have higher levels of commitment to metaphorical orientation compared to the

behavioral therapists, whereas behavioral therapists tended to have higher levels of

commitment to empirical epistemic style.

Neimeyer and Morton (1997) investigated the distinction between the rationalist

and constructivist therapies that was theorized by several researchers (Mahoney &

Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988) and explored the epistemic style of practicing

psychotherapists associated with rational-emotive therapy and personal construct therapy.

The first study that they conducted revealed a positive association between rationalist

style and rational-emotive therapy ratings, and between constructivist style and

metaphorical therapy ratings. The second study they conducted suggested rationalist

therapists strong identification with prominent rationalist therapists, and constructivist

therapists' strong identification with prominent constructivist therapists. Their results

strengthen the link of epistemic style to preference for different psychotherapeutic

orientations.

Further work that supports this link has been provided by Arthur (2000). Arthur

(2000) examined the epistemic style of a group of psychotherapists with psychoanalytic

and cognitive-behavioral orientation. Psychoanalytic therapists tended to score higher on

Organicism compared to the scores of cognitive-behavioral therapists and the difference

was significant. Their findings also indicated the role of experience on epistemological

commitments of psychotherapists. Novice psychoanalytic therapists tended to score

higher in Organicism than novice cognitive-behaviorists, and than senior psychoanalytic

therapists. These findings suggest that psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioral therapists









differ in their worldview; psychoanalysts tend to score towards Organicism, whereas

cognitive-behaviorists tend to score towards Mechanism. The findings also suggest that

experience can interact with orientation in determining the epistemological worldview of

therapists. Psychoanalysts may tend to become more Mechanistic as they get more

experienced.

Despite the differences among various studies, the overall findings can be

generalized that Organismic worldview and metaphorical epistemic style predict a

preference for constructivist therapies. The empirical epistemic style is linked to a

preference for a behavioral approach. Rationalistic epistemic style is linked to the

preference for rationalist therapies. Psychoanalysts tend towards Organicism, whereas

cognitive-behavioral therapists tend towards Mechanism in their dominant worldview.

Taken together, these findings suggest a moderate relationship between an individual's

epistemological commitments and preferences for counseling and therapy approaches.

Neimeyer and Saferstein (2003) studied the link between epistemic style and

therapy preference beyond the paper-pencil context by using more detailed and real-life-

like therapy presentations. The participants listened to two pre-recorded audio therapy

sessions that depicted constructivist and rationalist therapy orientations. Results failed to

generalize the previous findings of epistemic matching; the majority of participants

preferred rationalist therapy orientation regardless of their epistemic style. Yet, the results

suggested further an understanding of the possible variables moderating the relationship

between epistemic style and therapy approach preference (Vincent & LeBow, 1995).

Neimeyer and Saferstein (2003) suggested that as the representation of therapy became

more naturalistic and problem-specific, the effects of epistemic matching may fade. In









other words, the wide variety of additional factors associated with real life presentation

may over-ride the effects of epistemic matching.

The empirical evidence confirming the expected relationship between epistemic

style and psychotherapy preferences verified that epistemologies that underlie

psychology theories affect the individuals' attitudes, or at least individuals'

psychotherapy preferences. At the same time, to what extent epistemologies that underlie

psychology theories can affect psychotherapists' attitudes and behaviors in

psychotherapy session was questioned.

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapy Practices

The third set of studies linking epistemologies to psychotherapy investigated how

epistemic style differentiates among the psychotherapy practices. Epistemic style was

conceptually linked to the practice related attitudes and behaviors of psychotherapists. It

was further suggested that epistemic styles could differentiate among different types of

cognitive therapy (Lyddon, 1988; Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon,

1988).

Investigating the history of cognitive theories and therapies, Mahoney (1991)

highlighted the differences in cognitive therapists' understanding and practicing

psychotherapy, and he confirmed Lyddon's (1988) suggestion that different

epistemologies can differentiate among cognitive therapies. Mahoney (1991) suggested

that two distinct sets of philosophical assumptions reside within the cognitive

psychology, namely rationalist and constructivist assumptions, with therapists falling

along a continuum of rationalism and constructivism regardless of their theoretical

orientation (DiGiuseppe & Linscott, 1993). It was suggested that rationalist and









constructivist approaches mainly differ in their understanding of reality and knowledge,

and this difference reflects upon the way therapy is conceived and conducted.

Rationalist epistemology underlies the philosophy of modem cognitive therapies

(Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Therapists with rational epistemic commitments are

primarily characterized by their belief in a-priori truths that are independent of the

observer (Mahoney et al., 1989). Reality is singular, universal, ahistorical and

incremental (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Individuals are assumed to perceive the world

passively. Rationalists assume a boundary between mental and physical processes, and

privilege thought processes as a means of reaching truth. Rationalist cognitive theories

follow rational theories of knowledge, and assume reasoning and logical-analytic

processes are superior means of validating knowledge (Lyddon, 1988; Mahoney &

Lyddon, 1988). True knowledge is the one that matches the external reality (Neimeyer,

1993). Therapy seeks to replacing irrational thoughts with rational ones to set clients free

from their negative emotions. Ellis' Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) can be an exemplar

for therapy approaches with rationalist commitments (DiGiuseppe & Linscott, 1993;

Lyddon, 1990).

Constructivist epistemology underlies the philosophy of postmodern cognitive

therapies, and challenges the idea of an external and stable reality (Mahoney & Gabriel,

1987). Constructivist philosophy emphasizes the active involvement of human beings in

the construction of their realities. Therefore, reality is multiple, contextual, historical and

paradigmatic. "Knowing is thus a much more phenomenal and complex process than has

been suggested by realist and rationalist theories" (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987, p. 46).

Constructivist cognitive theories follow metaphorical theories of knowledge, and are









committed to the construction and alteration of personal meanings when validating

knowledge (Lyddon, 1988). Knowledge can be true to the extent that it is viable

(Neimeyer, 1993). Therapy is more exploration-oriented and seeks developmental

reorganization of personal knowing systems (Neimeyer et al., 2005). Kelly's Personal

Construct Therapy can be an exemplar for a therapy approach with constructivist

commitments (Neimeyer, 1995).

Mahoney and Gabriel (1987) conceptualized how the differences in philosophical

perspective are translated to therapy in detail, and contrasted the practical differences

between rationalist and constructivist therapies. The two approaches were contrasted with

one another in relation to the dominant thinking style of the therapist, therapy focus,

therapy direction, nature of therapeutic relationship, and conceptualization of central

constructs such as client problem, resistance, emotional distress, relapse and regression.

Among others Lyddon (1990) added the dimension of level of intervention to this list.

The empirical evidence supported that therapists identified with rationalist and

constructivist epistemologies differed in the way they set the direction of the therapy, in

the way they related to client and in the way they conceptualized and worked with their

clients' emotional distress, relapse and regression (Nagae & Nedate, 2001; Vasco, 1994;

Viney, 1994; Winter & Watson, 1999).

Thinking style

The first dimension in which constructivist and rationalist therapies differ is

simplicity and clarity of the thinking style and therapeutic format. Mahoney and Gabriel

(1987) specified that rationalist cognitive therapies have a basic thinking style, simple

format, and clear-cut methods, while constructivist cognitive therapies have a

complicated thinking style, complex format, and unclear methods. Believing in reality as









singular, stable and external to human experience, rationalists suggest that irrational,

invalid, and/or distorted thinking leads to personal distress that can be eliminated by

simply replacing irrational cognitions with rational ones (Winter & Watson, 1999).

Rationalist therapists also believe in the possibility of separating thoughts, behavior and

emotions, and consider thoughts and emotions simple dichotomous terms of

rational/irrational and positive/negative. Constructivist perspectives, on the other hand,

have a more complex way of thinking, viewing realities as reflecting individual or

collective constructions of personal experiences; and cognition, behavior and affect as

interdependent expressions of holistic systemic processes (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987).

Winter and Watson (1999) provided some empirical support for this idea by noting that

constructivist therapists used more complex levels of processing during therapy

compared to traditional cognitive therapies. Constructivist therapists do not assume to

know the solutions of clients' concerns, nor can they suggest one set way to "help"

clients (Mahoney, 1995). In a pursuit of cognitive and experiential growth, constructivist

therapies employ a wide range from techniques of different orientations. Consistent with

this idea, Vasco (1994) studied a group of Portuguese psychologists and established that a

commitment to constructivist epistemologies predicted technical eclecticism and the

tendency to embrace a much wider array of different psychotherapeutic procedures.

Focus of therapy

The second dimension in which constructivist and rationalist therapies differ is the

focus of the therapy. Rationalist cognitive therapies focus on the clients' present problem,

irrational thoughts and the elimination of them, while constructivist cognitive therapies

focus on history and development processes rather than the problem (Mahoney &

Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney et al., 1989). Empirical support came from the findings of Vasco









(1994) that revealed a negative correlation between constructivist epistemic commitments

and therapist focus on the "problems" of the client. Therapists with constructivist

epistemologies were less likely to focus on clients' problems. Instead, constructivist

therapies focus on the process, and concentrate on the meaning and growth that therapy

offers to the client as well as the therapist (Mahoney, 1995).

Direction of therapy

The third dimension in which constructivist and rationalist therapies differ is the

direction of therapy. Rationalist cognitive therapies sets specific client goals and

determine the direction of the therapy at the very beginning of the therapy, while

constructivist cognitive therapies determine the course of the therapy without an explicit

or external direction. Having a dynamic goal-orientation, therapists with constructivist

commitments allow self-organizing processes of the client to determine the course of

therapy (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Vasco (1994) validated this assumption by

establishing that the more therapists are committed to constructivist epistemology, the

less they lean on therapeutic structure and direction. Constructivist therapists' work is

generally exploratory, experimental and existential.

Therapeutic relationship

The fourth dimension in which constructivist and rationalist therapies differ is the

conceptualization of therapeutic relationship. Rationalist cognitive therapies and

constructivist cognitive therapies conceptualize the nature of client-therapist relationships

differently (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Rationalist therapists tend not to engage in

intense personal contacts with the clients; their relationship with clients is more objective

and analytical and less emotionally evocative. Rationalist therapists are generally more

active and directive in their relationships with clients (Garfield, 1989). Clients tend to be









recipients of rationalist therapists' guidance (Lyddon, 1988). Constructivist approaches

assume intimate relationship as a necessary aspect of the healing process. Constructivist

therapists tend to be emotionally and intellectually present and gently responsive in a way

that would establish a strong bond with their clients (Mahoney, 1995). Constructivist

assumptions value the mutual, collaborative relationship with the clients where clients

actively explore their proactive processes (Lyddon, 1988).

These assumptions have been validated empirically with various groups of

participants. Winter and Watson (1999) studied the full sessions of four personal

construct therapists and six rationalist therapists and concluded that personal construct

psychotherapists took a less directive approach than rationalists therapists, and clients in

personal construct therapy are more personally involved in therapy than the clients of

rationalists therapists. Moreover, rationalist therapists exhibited less empathy, regard, and

unconditionality for clients and they reflected more negative attitude towards the client

than personal construct therapists. Vasco (1994) verified that Portuguese therapists with

constructivist commitments also tended to reject more directive helping styles. Nagae and

Nedate (2001) confirmed these results with a group of Japanese therapists. They

compared constructive cognitive therapies and rational cognitive therapies for Japanese

students with social anxiety. The findings suggested that rational cognitive therapists

tended to have higher levels of psycho-educational instruction, and that constructive

cognitive therapists were more successful in establishing rapport with their clients (Nagae

& Nedate, 2001).

Conceptualization of central constructs

The fifth dimension in which constructivist and rationalist therapies differ is the

conceptualization of central constructs such as client problem, resistance, emotional









distress, relapse and regression (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Rationalist cognitive

therapies tend to conceptualize client problems as deficits or dysfunctions, mental

mistakes, or irrational beliefs. Constructivist therapies tend to define client problems as

indicators of the discrepancies between our external environmental challenges and

internal adaptive capacities (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Client problems are the vehicles

for both the therapist and the client to learn the way the client perceives and interacts with

the world.

Mahoney and Lyddon (1988) supported the idea that therapists with rationalist and

constructivist epistemic commitments conceptualize negative emotions differently.

Therapists with rationalist assumptions tend to view negative emotions as a problematic

outcome of the discontinuity between the reality and its' perception; and they aim to

control and remove the negative emotions by manipulating faulty cognitions and by

increasing the congruity between reality and perception. Therapists with constructivist

assumptions, on the other hand, view negative emotions as a form of knowing that

indicates the current functioning of the client. Rather than aiming to eliminate negative

emotions, constructivist therapists explore and encourage negative emotions and employ

them as valuable resource in the meaning-making efforts. Viney (1994) further

established the translation of epistemologies into concrete techniques by studying the

transcripts of therapy sessions of different theoretical orientations. She established that

personal construct and client-centered therapists acknowledged the negative emotions of

their clients more than rational-emotive therapists did; and in return clients of the

personal construct and client-centered therapists tended to explore their negative

emotions further.









Different epistemological assumptions also account for the differences in

therapists' conceptualization of, and work with, client resistance. Therapists with

rationalist epistemologies regard client resistance as an indication of client failure to

incorporate the new material. Therapists with constructivist epistemologies regard client

resistance as an indicator of the rapid changes in client's system that serves to protect the

client (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987). Vasco (1994) found that therapists with strong

constructivist epistemologies were less likely to confront their clients when they are faced

with client resistance. The transcripts of the full sessions of personal construct and

rationalist therapists also supported the difference in how therapists with different

epistemic commitments would deal differently with client resistance (Winter & Watson,

1999).

Therapists with rationalist and constructivist epistemic commitments conceptualize

relapse and regression in different ways as well. Rationalist cognitive therapies

conceptualize relapse and regression as reflecting client failure in maintenance and

generalization of what have been learned in therapy and they should be minimized in

order for the therapy to be effective. In contrast, constructivist therapies conceptualize

them as signals of the limitation in the client's current capacity (Mahoney & Gabriel,

1987). They are considered as unique opportunities to explore the developmental self-

history and implicit views of self and world.

Conceptualization of change

Lyddon (1990) further established another dimension in which constructivist and

rationalist therapies differ. He suggested that different epistemological commitments

underlying these two approaches call for different conceptualizations of change. Lyddon

(1990) suggested two levels of change, first-order change and second-order change. First-









order change is the change maintains the coherence of the existing system. Second-order

change that is also named as deep change represents discontinuity and transformation,

and it involves the fundamental restructuring of the system. Lyddon (1990) proposed that

a rationalist approach to therapy mainly elicits first-order change, while therapies with

constructivist commitments are designed to facilitate second-order change.

Altogether, these conceptual works with empirical validation suggest that

epistemologies underlying therapy approaches can differentiate the way psychotherapists

construct and conduct psychotherapy. Epistemologies underlying different therapy

approaches elicit divergent practices. How therapists think, how they orchestrate therapy,

how they relate to their clients, and how they understand and work with client problem,

resistance, emotional distress, relapse and regression can differ depending upon how the

therapists and their therapy approach tend to know the world (Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987;

Lyddon, 1990). Where epistemologies color how therapists construct and conduct

psychotherapy, therapists conducting therapy with diverse epistemologies are expected to

have different experiences. The nature of therapy defined by epistemological

commitments would construct different sets of experiences for the therapists.

Consequently, the impact of conducting therapy might be different for therapists

conducting epistemologically diverse therapies.

Literature suggests that epistemic worldviews have been conceptually and

empirically related to the theories of psychotherapy, to therapy approach preferences of

prospective clients and psychotherapists, and to the forms of intervention. This link

between epistemic styles and the theories and practices of psychology indicates a

potential link between epistemic style and personal experiences of practicing









psychotherapists. The literature suggesting that psychotherapy theories and practices are

related to epistemological commitments validates the efforts to investigate how epistemic

style can relate to the psychotherapist characteristics and to the personal impact of

conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists.

Epistemic Style and Psychotherapists' Characteristics and Experiences

Mahoney (1988) was first to assert that constructivist epistemological commitments

as well as constructivist therapies have their distinct requirements that should promote

differential personal characteristics and change experiences on constructivist

psychotherapists. Mahoney (1988) highlighted that theory conducted from constructivist

framework would seek and promote openness to self-examination, emotional presence

and attendance, toleration of ambiguity and thorough questioning of both the questions

and their answers at levels incomparable to the demands of other approaches. Mahoney

(1988, 1995) further suggested that conducting constructive therapies may lead to

increased pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance of ambiguity, and

appreciation of diversity. Rational epistemologies and rational therapies, on the other

hand, may be associated with decreased levels of pursuit of self-awareness, attending to

emotions, tolerance of ambiguity, and appreciation of diversity. Following that line of

thought, Neimeyer et al. (2005) suggested that epistemology might channelize the

experience of psychotherapy for the therapist, simultaneously enabling and disabling the

experience of different facets of that experience at different levels. They questioned what

distinctive marks can be left by the divergent practices related to different

epistemologies, and encouraged researchers to study how personal challenges and

satisfactions of practice are related to epistemological commitments.









The central questions that guided the present study concerned whether the personal

effect of conducting therapy can be differential for therapists with differing

epistemological commitments. Yet, understanding the association between epistemology

and therapists' personal characteristics would be prerequisite to the exploration of how

epistemology may relate to the personal impact of conducting psychotherapy. This study

aims to empirically investigate whether epistemologies can predict the personal

characteristics, and it focuses on a set of potential distinctive marks that Mahoney (1988,

1995) specified as the likely psychotherapist outcomes associated with constructivist

epistemologies and with conducting constructivist therapies. These variables are pursuit

of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for

diversity, and openness to experience. In the next section, we examine what each variable

means, and how constructivist and rationalist epistemologies may relate to different

levels of personal characteristics in psychotherapists.

Pursuit of Self-Awareness

The self-awareness can be summarized as one's awareness of and contact with is or

her inner world, and personal and professional functioning. Literature suggests various

forms of self-awareness. First, therapists can be tuned to the messages of discomfort, to

the sources of stress and frustration (Glicken, 1983; Skovholt, Grier, & Hanson, 2001;

Wityk, 2002). Second, therapists can develop awareness of how they handle pressure and

respond to stress, and of their inner responses to continuous working with human

suffering (Jaffe, 1986). Third, therapists are encouraged to be aware of their personality,

their needs as well as their unresolved traumas that may make them vulnerable to distress

(Farber, 1990; Maslach & Goldberg, 1998; McCann & Pearlman, 1990; Watkins, 1983).

Exploring the meaning and importance of being a healer and their motivations and









reasons to become dedicated therapists is also defined within self-awareness

(Freudenberger, 1977; Glicken, 1983; Jaffe, 1986). And finally, self-awareness includes

being aware of personal boundaries and limitations in psychotherapy as well as the stress

and psychological and personal growth associated with conducting therapy (Farber &

Heifetz, 1982; Glicken, 1983; McCann & Pearlman, 1990; Norcross 2000; Skovholt,

Grier, & Hanson, 2001). Therapists are recommended to inquire how their attitudes and

emotions change as they experience clients' painful stories (Maslach, 1976; McCann &

Pearlman, 1990).

Farber (1983) studied the effects of psychotherapeutic practice upon

psychotherapists by conducting one-hour interviews with 60 therapists. Reports of

participated therapists suggested that their awareness had increased as a function of the

amount of psychotherapy experience. Furthermore, the study conducted by Radeke and

Mahoney (2000) found that compared to the psychologists involved in research,

psychologists conducting psychotherapy reported higher levels of self-awareness,

suggesting that being in the process of psychotherapy might have an impact on level's of

self-awareness (Radeke & Mahoney, 2000).

Investigating the implications of constructivist epistemology for psychotherapy,

Mahoney (1988) suggested that among the modem theories, constructivist theory

demands therapists to maintain high levels of self-examining openness. Constructivist

commitment asks therapists to attend to their values knowing that they can be powerful

agents of change in clients' values systems (Mahoney, 1995). Fostering close working

relationships with their clients, constructivist therapists may encourage the client's

expression of his or her painful stories (Mahoney, 1995). Therapists with constructive









epistemological commitments not only seek deeper levels of client-change, but also seek

deeper levels of self-understanding.

On the other hand, since rationalist therapists tend to believe that they are objective

observers of the stable and single reality, and they can correct their clients' faulty

cognitions of reality as an authority, they will be less required to be insightful about their

personal experiences such as emotions, thoughts or motivations. Therefore, we expect

constructivist epistemologies to predict higher levels of therapist pursuit of self-

awareness, whereas rationalist epistemologies predict lower levels of this characteristic.

Attending to Emotions

Attending to emotions simply refers to individuals' tendency to attend to their

emotions and it has been considered as an essential feature of emotional intelligence

(Barchard, 2001, as cited in International Personality Item Pool, 2001). Psychotherapists

suggested that conducting therapy had increased their sensitivity and greater

understanding of universal difficulties (Farber, 1983). Attending to personal emotions is

very similar to the pursuit of self-awareness since they both focus on individual's

tendency to question their inner experiences, and conducting therapy is expected to

facilitate therapists' attending to emotions as it facilitates their pursuit of self-awareness.

The constructivist approach facilitates deep, i.e. second-order change (Lyddon,

1990), and second-order change has been achieved by experiencing and working on

intense and often painful emotions (Guidano, 1987). To facilitate the expression of these

negative emotions in the therapy room, therapists develop close relationships with their

clients (Lyddon, 1990), and position themselves as emotionally present and responsive

during the therapy (Mahoney, 1995). Experiencing such a constant emotional presence

and attendance to the emotional experiences of their clients, therapists with constructivist









epistemologies may have increased attendance to their personal emotions. Research had

shown that individuals with organismic worldviews tended to be more empathic in

general (Johnson et al., 1988) and such an empathic state for others might extend to the

self as well.

On the other hand, rationalist perspective constructs emotions simply as outcomes

of cognitions that are not central to the realization of the external reality. Rationalist

therapists attend to emotions at times as a part of therapy, however they are neither

required nor encouraged to have a deep emotional connection with their clients. As a

consequence, their emotional presence is relatively remote. These aspects of rationalist

epistemologies may restrict the degree that therapists will be tuned to emotions.

Therefore, we expect constructivist epistemologies to predict higher levels of therapist

attending to emotions, whereas rationalist epistemologies predict lower levels of this

characteristic.

Tolerance for Ambiguity

Ambiguity tolerance defines the way an individual handles situations or stimuli that

are unfamiliar, complex or incongruent, i.e. ambiguous (Furnham & Ribchester, 1995).

Tolerance for ambiguity means one's ability to deal with this uncertainty and vagueness

or with the presence of multiple meanings (Beitel et al., 2004). Ambiguity-tolerant (AT)

people were characterized with being comfortable in "dealing with the shades of gray in

life" without any need to rely upon black-or-white thinking (Beitel et al., 2004, p.570).

People with low tolerance for ambiguity on the other hand tend to experience stress when

they are presented with ambiguity, and they tend to react prematurely and avoid it

(Furnham & Ribchester, 1995). Tolerance for ambiguity has been found to be positively

associated with extroversion and openness, and negatively associated with neuroticism









(Wolfradt & Rademacher, 1999, as cited in Beitel et al., 2004). Chen and Hooijberg

(2000), who studied the ambiguity intolerance of Master of Business Administration

students, further suggested that ambiguity intolerance was negatively associated with

supporting diversity interventions suggesting that ambiguity tolerance is associated with

appreciation of diversity.

Psychotherapists reported greater tolerance for ambiguity than did research

psychologists, suggesting the possibility that conducting therapy may increase the

therapists' tolerance for ambiguity in their personal lives (Radeke & Mahoney, 2000).

Tolerance for ambiguity has also been recognized as a critical skill for constructivist

therapists because the constructivist epistemological assumptions introduce various

sources of ambiguity into therapy (Mahoney, 1995). Therapists with strong constructivist

commitments have less therapeutic structure and direction (Vasco, 1994). With fewer

explicit, pre-determined client goals, constructivist therapists face the challenge of not

following a specific path of actions, but instead the route of their journey is ambiguous.

Moreover, the "patterns of experiencing self, others, the world, and the possible relations

between them" is constantly revised in the therapy (Mahoney, 1995, p. 391).

Constructivist assumption highlights that any interaction between therapist and client is

ambiguous. Both therapist and client perceptions and experiences are biased and have

multiple meanings. Facing the challenge of not following a specific path of actions,

allowing the self-organizing processes of the client to shape the course of therapy, and

continuous appreciation of the dynamic complexities taking place in therapy and life

introduce high levels of ambiguity (Mahoney, 1995). Constructivist therapists would

need to have or develop high levels of ambiguity tolerance in order to deal with these









challenges of constructive therapies. Ambiguity tolerance had been positively associated

with openness to experience (Wolfradt & Rademacher, 1999, as cited in Beitel et al.,

2004) that was empirically related to an organismic worldview (Babbage & Ronan,

2000). Moreover, ambiguity tolerance can be conceptually linked to cognitive flexibility

that has also been linked to organismic worldview and constructivist epistemologies

(Botella & Gallifa, 1995).

On the other hand, the simple and straightforward approach of rationalist

epistemology to psychotherapy, where the therapist assumes the role of the knower with a

true understanding of client problems, and with a clear mind-map to reach the final

outcome, leaves less room for ambiguity. Rationalist epistemologies simply may not

cultivate therapists' ambiguity tolerance. This suggestion can be supported by empirical

finding linking mechanistic worldviews to being close to experience (Babbage & Ronan,

2000), and to cognitive inflexibility (Botella & Gallifa, 1995). Therefore, we expect

constructivist epistemologies to predict higher levels of therapist ambiguity tolerance,

whereas rationalist epistemologies predict lower levels of this characteristic.

Social Tolerance for Diversity

Within the context of present study, social tolerance for diversity indicates one's

being respectful and tolerant to diverse sets of values, life-styles and identities. It can

encompass appreciating personal differences, as well as cultural differences and can be

identified and studied with respect to Cloninger's social tolerance character (Cloninger,

Svrakic, & Przybeck, 1993). Social tolerance was among the constructs underlying an

individual's cooperativeness and it mainly revealed one's tendency to accept other people

as they are, even when they are different.









Farber (1983) suggested that more than half of the interviewed therapists agreed

that they have had greater appreciation of human diversity, and greater understanding of

human vulnerability. One therapist reported that he now had a "deeper understanding of

people, a deeper appreciation, and a greater ability to accept" (Farber, 1983, p. 180).

Another experienced psychiatrist commented on the maturing effect of therapy, and

reported that conducting therapy made him appreciate diversity and the differences as it

let him face wide range of phenomena (Farber, 1983). Similarly, psychotherapists

suggested that their work changed their value system, and made them better and wiser

people with increased appreciation for human relationships and with increased capacity

to enjoy life (Radeke & Mahoney, 2000).

As a therapist with constructivist epistemological commitments, Mahoney (1995)

also reported that his "readings and reflections have rendered a greater personal

appreciation and respect for the diversity of belief systems" (p. 394). Mahoney (1995)

suggested that constructivist therapies entail bi-directional learning during the therapy

process, and the therapists come to realize the uniqueness of the each one of their clients.

This learning process teaches therapists to accept and respect different identities, different

life-styles and different values. Constructivist epistemologies suggest that humans

actively construct their own knowledge and beliefs, that values are subjective and evolve

within individual, social and historical contexts, and that any human interaction is colored

by personal values (Mahoney, 1995). Such a framework, coupled with an exposure to a

wide range of people in a collaborative relationship, may enhance constructivist

therapists' tolerance and respect for diversity. Research investigating the personal

implications of epistemic style have supported the idea that epistemic style can be linked









to one's social tolerance (Johnson et al., 1988), as organismically-oriented individuals

have been shown to be more likely to have higher social tolerance scores.

On the other hand, rationalism encourages more technical relationships with clients

that may not require its adherents to face the uniqueness of their clients or to appreciate

and tolerate differences among clients. Although multicultural sensitivity is incorporated

in any forms of practice, the more instructional, directive nature of rationalist therapies

may not demand deeper appreciation of human differences. This suggestion can be

supported by empirical findings linking mechanistic worldviews to having less social

tolerance (Johnson et al., 1988). Therefore, we expect constructivist epistemologies to

predict higher levels of therapist social tolerance for diversity, whereas rationalist

epistemologies predict lower levels of this characteristic.

Openness to Experience

Openness to experience is defined as one's openness to fantasy, aesthetics, feelings,

actions, ideas and values (McCrae & Costa, 1991), and it is among the five broad

personality factors. Openness to experience reflects active imagination, aesthetic

sensitivity, receptiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity,

and independence of judgment (McCrae & Costa, 2003). Higher levels of openness to

experience imply flexibility and tolerance for ambiguity and novelty, whereas lower

levels of openness imply rigidity and intolerance for ambiguity and complexities

(McCrae & Costa, 2003).

Openness to experience captures openness to self-understanding, to painful

emotions, to ambiguous and novel circumstances, and to different beings and values.

Therapists who are open to investigate what they personally experience will be more

likely to pursue high levels of self-awareness. Therapists who are open to painful stories









and negative emotions of their clients will be more likely to be tuned to emotions as a

result of conducting therapy. Therapists who are open to ambiguities of therapeutic

processes will be more likely to built tolerance for ambiguity as they continue their

practice. Therapists who are more open to different values and experiences will be more

likely to have higher levels of tolerance and appreciation for human diversity. In that

respect, we suggest that the features of pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions,

tolerance for ambiguity, and tolerance for and appreciation of diversity collectively

requires therapist to be open to experience.

Research investigating the personal implications of epistemic style suggested that

epistemic style can be linked to one's openness to experience. Neimeyer et al. (1993)

suggested that individuals with metaphorical orientations were more open to experience

that is evident in their rejecting normative expectations when they define who they are.

Berzonsky (1994) suggested that information-oriented self-theorists that tend to be high

on constructivism also tend to be open to ideas, values, and actions (Berzonsky, 1990,

1994; Berzonsky & Sullivan, 1992). Recently, Babbage and Ronan (2000) empirically

verified that organismically-oriented scientists also scored higher on Openness to

Experience. In general, individuals with metaphorist epistemologies, contextual and

organismic worldviews and constructivist epistemological assumptions tended to be open

to experience and they tended to be open and active in their identity-construction

processes (Babbage & Ronan, 2000; Berzonsky, 1994; Caputi & Oades, 2001; Neimeyer

et al., 1993). Mahoney (1995) conceptually furthered the link between epistemological

commitments and openness to experience by claiming that therapists with constructivist

epistemologies would be open to different values because they believe humans construct









their own reality, and human values cannot be justified by realities external to

themselves.

On the other hand, followers of rationalist epistemologies may be related to lower

levels of openness to experience because therapists within this tradition tend to view

themselves as adequate authority figures to assist clients in their psychological problems,

helping to guide their clients towards a more accurate perception of what they take to be

reality. The more definitive and confident nature of this epistemological standpoint might

be associated with lower levels of personal openness. This suggestion can be supported

by empirical finding linking mechanistic worldviews to being conventional (Johnson et

al., 1988). Therefore, we expect constructivist epistemologies to predict higher levels of

therapist openness to experience, whereas rationalist epistemologies predict lower levels

of this characteristic.

Epistemology and Psychotherapy Experience

Neimeyer et al. (2005) have noted the promising link between epistemic style and

personal impact of conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists, and they suggested

that the impact of epistemic style on practice can be extended to psychotherapists'

psychotherapy experiences. The established differences in theory an practice of

psychology fueled by different epistemological commitments might extend to the way in

which the therapists experience psychotherapy, as well as the nature of the strengths they

experience and stresses they draw from that experience. As constructivist and rationalist

therapies differ in what happens in the therapy room, how these therapists are affected by

conducting therapy can differ with distinct nature of the followed therapy approach.

Knowing the epistemic style is linked to psychotherapy theories and practices, it is









reasonable to question whether epistemic style has any implications for therapist

characteristics and for the way therapists change as a result of their therapy practices.

Neimeyer and his colleagues (2005) have pointed out that the effect of

epistemological assumptions on practice may blur the boundary between the personal and

professional domains. We suggest that the personal and professional domains are

intertwined such that personal epistemic style influences how a therapist would conduct

and experience psychotherapy, and in turn these professional differences affected by

divergent epistemologies would further shape how the therapist is affected by his or her

profession, i.e. by conducting psychotherapy. We suggest that therapist epistemic style

would relate not only to the personal characteristics of psychotherapists but also to the

impact of conducting psychotherapy on psychotherapists.

Several researchers demonstrated the personal impact of conducting psychotherapy

on psychotherapists without considering the unique demands associated with different

theory approaches. Practicing psychotherapists reported higher levels of emotional

exhaustion, yet they also reported that their work made them better and wiser human

beings with increased self-awareness, appreciation for other human beings, accelerated

psychological development, increased tolerance for ambiguity and change in their value

system (Farber, 1983; Radeke & Mahoney, 2000). Therapists also reported enjoying

client growth, challenges of their work, continuous learning, increased self-knowledge,

personal growth, emotional intimacy with their clients and being a role model and a

mentor that comes with conducting psychotherapy (Kramen-Kahn & Hansen, 1998). A

quote of Bugental (1978) summarized how conducting psychotherapy influenced his

personal life:









"I am not the person who began to practice counseling or psychotherapy more than
30 years ago ... And the changes in me are not solely those worked by time,
education, and the life circumstances shared by most of my generation. A powerful
force affecting me has been my participation in so many lives My life as a
psychotherapist has been... the source of anguish, pain, and anxiety--sometimes in
the work itself, but more frequently within myself and with those important in my
life Similarly that work and those relationships have directly and indirectly
brought to me and those in my life joy, excitement, and a sense of participation in
truly vital experiences." (pp. 149-150)

Additionally, Mahoney (1995) pointed that conducting therapy within any

epistemological framework would have its own challenges, yet conducting therapy with

constructivist mindset might amplify the challenges of conducting therapy in predictable

ways. As explained above, previous self-report studies suggested that therapists' self-

awareness, attending to emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and openness

were expected to be positively related to years they have spent in practice. Moreover,

these characteristics can be positively related to constructivist epistemologies. Mahoney

(1995) further suggested that levels of change on these characteristics induced by

psychotherapy practice may be positively moderated by constructivist epistemologies.

Therapists with higher levels of constructivist commitments may change more on these

above-mentioned characteristics as they practice becoming increasingly attuned to

emotionality, tolerant of ambiguity and differences, and open to experience over the

course of their professional careers. In contrast, therapists with lower levels of

constructivist commitments or therapists with higher levels of rationalist commitments

might be expected to show little change, or even a decrease, in their levels of these

factors as they gain increasing confidence regarding their perceptions of reality and their

effectiveness in working with clients from within this rationalist framework.

The existing literature indicates various ways that epistemic style exerts its'

influence on aspects of personality and experience. Epistemological commitments are









tied to personal characteristics as well as they are tied to the theory and practice of

psychotherapy. Psychotherapists' epistemological commitments define how they would

construct and practice psychotherapy. We suggest that psychotherapists' epistemological

commitments can also relate to personal characteristics of psychotherapists and to their

experience in terms of how they are affected by conducting psychotherapy. We suggest

that certain epistemologies that require differential ways of conducting therapy will offer

different strength and drawbacks. Literature on constructive approaches to therapy shows

that distinctive demands of the constructivist epistemologies may relate to higher levels

of therapist pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity,

social tolerance for diversity, and openness to experience. Considering the

complementary nature of the constructivist and rationalist epistemologies, rationalist

epistemologies can be expected to relate to lower levels of therapist pursuit of self-

awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity,

and openness to experience.

Purpose of the Study

The present study is an exploratory study investigating the relationship between

therapists' epistemological commitments and a range of personal characteristics and

experience. Specific hypotheses were identified in the order of importance as (1)

therapists' commitment to constructivist epistemologies will predict higher levels of

pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance

for diversity and openness to experience; (2) therapists' commitment to rationalist

epistemologies will predict lower levels of pursuit of self-awareness, attending to

emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity and openness to

experience; and (3) epistemological commitments will moderate the impact of the






61


number of years spent in clinical practice; constructivist epistemologies will be

increasing related to those therapist characteristics and rationalist epistemologies will be

decreasingly related to them over the course of psychotherapeutic experience.














CHAPTER 3
METHODS

Participants

Participants were professional psychologists that were recruited online via their

membership in various professional organizations. Participants were primarily recruited

from the American Psychological Association (APA) Practice Organization

(www.apapractice.org) online practitioner directory (approximately 15,057 members).

Participant solicitation emails were also sent to APA Division 17 (Counseling

Psychology, 355 members), APA Division 29 (Psychotherapy, approximately 224

members), APA Division 32 (Humanistic Psychology, approximately 130 members), The

North American Personal Construct Network (NAPCN) list serve (approximately 95

members), the Albert Ellis Institute email list (approximately 57 members), in addition to

a number of APA-approved counseling centers. The solicitation email also encouraged

participants to forward the email survey on to other eligible practitioners; therefore

calculating an accurate response rate was not possible.

Procedure

As part of a larger Internet survey, participants were invited to complete an online

questionnaire that took 30 minutes to complete on average. Participants were informed

that the study aimed to understand the interactions between therapists' epistemic style

and its relationship with a range of therapist variables (e.g. therapy style, working

alliance, and types of interventions used). Informed consent was required before the

questionnaire appeared on the screen. Confidentiality of completed surveys was insured.









Participants answered one of four different versions of the main questionnaire in which

the questions were ordered differently in order to test for the possible operation of any

order effects. Participants were debriefed at the end of the study and were provided with

the contact information for further inquiries.

Instruments

Therapist Attitude Questionnaire Short Form (TAQ-SF). This scale assesses

the degree of participants' commitments to rationalist and constructivist epistemologies.

DiGiuseppe and Linscott (1993) developed the Therapist Attitude Questionnaire (TAQ)

to measure the philosophical, theoretical, and technical dimensions of the rationalist and

constructivist positions. Neimeyer and Morton (1997) developed the short version of the

TAQ, named Therapist Attitude Questionnaire Short Form (TAQ-SF). The TAQ-SF

measures the same constructs the TAQ measures using a total of 16 items. Eight items

represents rationalist positions, and the other 8 items represents constructivist positions.

As in the TAQ, the respondents are asked to determine the degree to which they endorse

the statements on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Sample items include "Reality is singular, stable and external to human experience" and

"Reality is relative. Realities reflect individual or collective constructions of order to

one's experiences". Higher rationalism and constructivism scores reflect higher

commitments to rationalist and constructivist epistemologies. The TAQ-SF was found to

reproduce the basic factor structure of the TAQ. Predictive validity of the measure was

established as it predicted the therapeutic identifications and descriptions of a group of

practicing professionals (Neimeyer & Morton, 1997). TAQ-SF scores in the present study

yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .72 for rationalist scale and a Cronbach's alpha of .64 for

the constructivist scale.









Constructivist Assumption Scale (CAS). The Constructivist Assumption Scale

(CAS) was employed as a secondary measure of epistemic style in order to provide

support for the TAQ-SF. Berzonsky (1994) developed the Constructivist Assumption

Scale to measure participants' constructivist assumptions. CAS is a 12-item self-

administered measure. The respondents are asked to rate all of the statements on a 5-point

scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Sample items include

"Scientific facts are universal truths; they do not change over time" and "Nothing is

really good or bad, it always depends upon how we think about it." Higher scores reflect

higher commitment to constructivist assumptions. CAS scores originally yielded a

Cronbach's alpha of .55, and 2-month test-retest reliability of .68. Convergent validity of

the measure was established with its positive correlations with contextualist and

organismic worldviews and with its negative correlation with formistic worldviews

(Berzonsky, 1994). CAS scores in the present study yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .70.

Pursuit of Self-Awareness. Pursuit of Self-Awareness was measured by the

Private Self-Consciousness subscale of the Revised Self-Consciousness Scale. This

subscale assesses the participants' tendency to attend to more covert and personal aspects

of the self such as personal beliefs, aspirations, values and feelings. Fenigstein, Scheier

and Buss (1975) developed the Self-Consciousness Scale to measure individual

differences in private and public self-consciousness. Scheier and Carver (1985) revised

the Self-Consciousness Scale to increase the scale's appropriateness for use with non-

college populations. The Private Self-Consciousness subscale is a 9-item self-

administered measure. The respondents are asked to indicate the extent to which each

statement is like them on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (Not at all like me) to 3 (A









lot like me). Sample items include "I never take a hard look at myself' and "I'm

constantly thinking about my reasons for doing things". Higher scores reflect higher

levels of self-consciousness. Revised Private Self-Consciousness subscale scores have

yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .75, and 4-week test-retest coefficient of .76. Revised Self-

Consciousness Scale was found to reproduce the basic factor structure of the original

Self-Consciousness Scale. Private Self-Consciousness scores in the present study yielded

a Cronbach's alpha of .78.

Attending to Emotions. Attending to Emotions was measured by the Attending to

Emotions subscale of the Emotional Intelligence Scale. This subscale assesses the

participants' tendency to attend to their emotions. Goldberg (1999) developed the

International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), and the Attending to Emotions subscale is

among the IPIP scales that are related to "emotional intelligence" (Barchard, 2001, as

cited in International Personality Item Pool, 2001). Attending to Emotions Scale is a 10-

item self-administered measure. The respondents are asked to rate how accurately each

item describes them on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (very inaccurate) to 5 (very

accurate). Sample items include "Think about the causes of my emotions" and "Am not

in touch with my feelings". Higher scores reflect higher levels of attending to emotions.

Attending to Emotions scores have yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .81 for a sample of 432

women, and.83 for a sample of 317 men (International Personality Item Pool, 2001).

Attending to Emotions scores in the present study yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .90.

Tolerance for Ambiguity. Tolerance for Ambiguity was measured with the

Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance (MSTAT). This subscale assesses the

participants' reactions to ambiguity. McLain (1993) designed the MSTAT to measure









individual's reactions to ambiguous situations and stimuli. MSTAT is a 22-item self-

administered measure. The respondents are asked to rate how accurately each item

describes them on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly

agree). Sample items include "I'm drawn to situations, which can be interpreted in more

than one way", and "I try to avoid problems which don't seem to have only one "best"

solution". Higher scores reflect higher tolerance for ambiguity. MSTAT scores have

yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .86 for a sample of 148 undergraduate organizational

behavior students at a medium sized mid-western university. Content validity of the

measure was established with its positive correlations with three alternative ambiguity

tolerance measures. Construct validity of the measure was established with the negative

correlations of MSTAT scores with dogmatism and receptivity to change, and with the

positive correlations of MSTAT scores with sensation-seeking. Ambiguity Tolerance

scores in the present study yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .89.

Social Tolerance for Diversity. This variable was measured with the Tolerance

subscale of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). This subscale assesses the

participants' reactions to socially diverse stimuli. The Tolerance subscale is among the

IPIP scales measuring constructs similar to those in Cloninger's Temperament and

Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger et al., 1993), and it corresponds to the TCI's Social

Acceptance subscale that measures the individuals' cooperativeness together with the

other subscales of helpfulness, compassion, empathy, and pure-heartedness. IPIP's

Tolerance subscale is a 12-item self-administered measure. The respondents are asked to

rate how accurately each item describes them on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (very

inaccurate) to 5 (very accurate). Sample items include "Accept people as they are" and









"Am quick to judge others". Higher scores reflect higher social tolerance for diversity.

Tolerance scores have yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .72 (International Personality Item

Pool, 2001). Tolerance subscale also satisfactorily correlates (r = .67) with the

corresponding TCI scale (International Personality Item Pool, 2001). Tolerance scores in

the present study yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .76.

Openness to Experience. Openness to Experience was measured with the

Openness to Experience subscale of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). This

subscale assesses participants' degree of openness to experience (International

Personality Item Pool, 2001). A set of IPIP subscales assesses the personality dimensions

of the Five Factor Model (FFM) developed by Costa and McCrae (1985), and IPIP's

Openness subscale corresponds to FFM's Openness to Experience subscale. IPIP's

Openness subscale is a 10-item self-administered measure. The respondents are asked to

rate how accurately each item describes them on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (very

inaccurate) to 5 (very accurate). Sample items include "Have difficulty understanding

abstract ideas" and "Enjoy hearing new ideas". The IPIP Openness to Openness to

experience scores have yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .82 (International Personality Item

Pool, 2001). Experience subscale correlates highly (r = .83) with the FFM's

corresponding NEO-PI-R scale (International Personality Item Pool, 2001). Openness to

Experience scores in the present study yielded a Cronbach's alpha of .73.

Demographics: Participants were asked to give information about their gender,

age, ethnic background, name of their highest degree, the year they obtained their highest

degree, total number of years they have spent in clinical practice, specialty area, primary






68


employment setting, primary job responsibility, dominant theoretical orientation, average

number of clients seen weekly, and the country they live in.














CHAPTER 4
RESULTS

The results section is composed of three sections. First, the sample characteristics

are described in some detail. Second, the descriptive information concerning the overall

scores, psychometrics and relationships among the primary variables of interest are

presented. And last, a series of multiple regression analyses are reported to address the

primary questions regarding the ways in which therapists' epistemic leanings and levels

of experience predict levels of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for

ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity, and openness to experience.

Demographics

The sample consisted of 1,181 participants (733 women and 418 men) with a mean

age of 45.09 (SD = 12.54, age range = 22-84 years). The majority of the participants were

Caucasian, 88.9% (N = 1030), followed by multiracial, 2.8% (N = 33), Hispanic, 2.6%

(N = 30), African-American, 2.4% (N = 28), Asian-American, 2.1% (N = 24), and Other,

1.2% (N = 14). The majority of the participants were from U.S., 96.5% (N= 1118),

whereas 2.5% (N = 29) of the participants were from Canada and .9% (N = 11) of them

were from other countries.

The majority of the participants had a Ph.D. degree, 60.1% (N = 700), followed by

an M.A. or M.S., 18.6% (N = 216), Psy.D., 11.0% (N = 128), B.A.or B.S., 3.3% (N=

38), Ed.D., 1.7% (N = 20), M.S.W., 1.4% (N = 16), or other degrees, 4.0% (N = 46), as

their highest degree. The majority of participants were non-students, 93.5% (N = 1,105)

and only 6.5% (N = 77) of them were graduate students. The majority of the participants









were self-identified as psychologists, 83.2% (N = 967), followed by mental health

counselors, 6.4% (N = 74), marriage and family therapists, 2.2% (N = 25), and social

workers, 1.0% (N = 12). The remaining participants designated themselves as Other,

7.2% (N = 84).

The majority of the participants defined their primary responsibility as

practice/clinical work, 75.1% (N = 867), followed by academic, 8.1% (N = 94),

administrative, 4.6% (N = 53), research, 4.3% (N = 50) and other, 7.9% (N = 91). The

majority of the participants indicated their primary employment setting as private

practice, 40.4% (N = 466), followed by university academic department, 11.4% (N=

132), hospital, 10.8% (N = 125), university service delivery department, 10.6% (N=

122), mental health care, 7.7% (N = 89), community center, 4.0% (N = 46), school, 3.4%

(N = 39), and other, 11.7% (N = 134). Mean number of years spent in clinical practice

was 14.01, and ranged between 0 and 56 (SD = 11.03). The mean number of clients seen

weekly was 15.98, and ranged between 0 and 70 (SD = 11.34).

The majority of the participants identified cognitive-behavioral theory as their

dominant theoretical orientation, 35.9% (N = 414), followed by integrative, 18.1% (N=

209), psychodynamic, 15.2% (N = 175), interpersonal, 7.6% (N = 88),

humanistic/person-centered, 7.2% (N = 83), constructivist, 3.2% (N = 37), existential,

2.2% (N = 25), rational-emotive, 1.7% (N = 20), and Gestalt, 0.7% (N = 8). The

remaining participants designated themselves as other, 8.2% (N = 95).

Descriptives and Preliminary Analyses

One-way analyses of variance suggested that there were no difference in the mean

scores of the variables of interest among the four types of questionnaire forms (all ps >

.007). Thus for all analyses, the data from four different forms were combined.









Table 1 depicts summary statistics of the primary variables used in this study. This

includes the measures of rationalism and constructivism derived from the Therapist

Attitudes Questionnaire (TAQ), the measure of constructivism derived from the

Constructivist Assumption Scale (CAS), and the measures that assessed the pursuit of

self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for

diversity, and openness to experience. All scores were normally distributed. Skewness

and kurtosis values were in the acceptable range for appropriate distribution. The

epistemology scores obtained from TAQ were consistent with the scores reported by

Neimeyer and Morton (1997). Overall, the scales yielded moderate to high reliability

coefficients.

Table 1: Summary statistics of variables of interest
Possible Sample n of
Variable N M SD Range Range Skewness Kurtosis items a
1. TAQ-R 1130 22.11 5.12 8-40 8-36 -0.25 -0.29 8 0.72
2. TAQ-C 1138 32.74 3.42 8-40 12-40 -0.51 1.57 8 0.64
3. CAS 1113 45.33 5.28 12-60 27-60 -0.02 0.13 12 0.70
4. PSA 1141 18.96 4.28 0-27 4-27 -0.31 -0.17 9 0.78
5. AE 1139 43.61 5.51 5-50 21-50 -0.87 0.74 10 0.90
6. AT 1094 111.8915.29 22-154 66-154 -0.07 -0.27 22 0.89
7. ST 1142 47.63 5.43 12-60 19-60 -0.50 0.86 12 0.76
8. OE 1147 43.30 4.92 5-50 11-50 -0.90 1.41 10 0.73
Note. TAQ-R = Therapist Assumption Scale Rationalism; TAQ-C = Therapist
Assumption Scale Constructivism; CAS = Constructivist Assumption Scale; PSA =
Pursuit of Self Awareness; AE = Attending to Emotions; AT = Ambiguity Tolerance; ST
= Social Tolerance; OE = Openness to Experience

Table 2 depicts the Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficients among the

variables of interest. As expected, CAS and TAQ-Constructivism scores were positively

associated, (n = 1084, r = .30, p < .001, two-tailed), and CAS and TAQ-Rationalism were

negatively associated, (n = 1077, r = -.36, p < .001, two-tailed). These associations

supported the expectation that participants with higher constructivism scores would show









higher commitment to constructivist epistemologies, and participants with higher

rationalism scores would tend to show lower commitment to constructivist

epistemologies.

Table 2: Intercorrelations among the variables of interest.
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. TAQ-R -
2. TAQ-C -.09** -
3. CAS -.36*** .30*** -
4. PSA -.12*** .20*** .21*** -
5. AE -.14*** .21*** .14*** .59*** -
6. AT -.23*** .13*** .19*** .07* .09**
7. ST -.15*** .15*** .20*** -.03 .11** .32*** -
8. OE -.24*** .17*** .31*** .26*** .21*** .34*** .24***
Note. For all variables, the higher number represents a greater amount of that construct.
TAQ-R = Therapist Assumption Scale Rationalism; TAQ-C = Therapist Assumption
Scale Constructivism; CAS = Constructivist Assumption Scale; PSA = Pursuit of Self
Awareness; AE = Attending to Emotions; AT = Ambiguity Tolerance; ST = Social
Tolerance; OE = Openness to Experience
a Listwise N = 934
*p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

Consistent with previous distinctions outlined in the literature, a number of

therapist qualities were associated with epistemic leanings in theoretically consistent

ways. Levels of constructivism, for example, were generally positively related to greater

levels of pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social

tolerance for diversity, and openness to experience, while rationalist leanings were

negatively associated with these variables. Similarly, conceptually linked variables

showed moderate to high associations: For example, pursuit of self-awareness and

attending to emotions were positively associated with one another, as were levels of

tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity and openness to experience.









Primary Analyses

The final set of analyses utilized regression analyses to examine whether rationalist

and constructivist epistemological commitments were related to the levels of pursuit of

self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for

diversity, and openness to experience. Constructivist epistemologies were expected to

predict the levels of these variables positively, where rationalist epistemologies were

expected to predict the levels of these variables negatively when the number of years

spent in practice was controlled. Whether constructivism and rationalism interacts with

years of psychotherapy experience was also investigated. It was hypothesized that the

epistemological commitment would moderate the relationship between experience and

personal qualities such that constructivist epistemologies would be increasingly related to

those therapist characteristics and rationalist epistemologies would be decreasingly

related to them over the course of psychotherapeutic experience.

Epistemology-by-experience interaction terms are residualized product-term

interactions. Rationalism-by-experience interaction terms were computed by multiplying

participants' rationalism scores by the number of years the participants spent in practice,

and then extracting the variance interaction term shared with rationalism and experience

out of the computed product term via conducting a multiple regression analysis where

rationalism and the number of years spent in practice were the independent variables, and

the rationalism-by-experience product-term was the dependent variable. The

constructivism-by-experience interaction term was computed following the same method.

We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses to study the main and

interaction effects of the four independent variables on each of the five dependent

variables while controlling for gender (dummy coded: 0 = male and 1 = female), and









experience (defined as the number of years participants spent in practice). The

independent variables were TAQ-Rationalism and TAQ-Constructivism scores. In

addition, there were two interaction variables representing interactions among the

independent variables of epistemology and experience. The dependent variables were

pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance

for diversity, and openness to experience. For each regression analysis, gender and

experience was entered in Step 1, and the two independent variables were entered in Step

2 and two interaction variables were entered in Step 3. The main variables were entered

in the second step and interaction variables were entered in the third step to examine

whether these effects were above and beyond that of experience. With 5 dependent

variables, Bonferroni adjustment was employed to guard against the Type I error, and the

alpha level for the overall regression analysis for each dependent variable was set at .01.

Effect size indexes for multiple regression analyses was defined as the R2 divided by

one minus R2. The obtained/s were evaluated according to the Cohen's (1992) operation

definition of small (.02), medium (.15) and large (.35) effects.

To assess for the presence of multicollinearity, the variation inflation factor (VIF)

statistics across the independent variables were examined. Myers (1990) pointed out that

a VIF value above 10 indicates concern for the presence of multicollinearity. In our

regression equation, VIF statistics ranged from 1.01 to 1.02, suggesting that

multicollinearity was not present.

The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis for each of the five

dependent variables are presented in Table 3. The results indicated significant regression

equations (i.e., p < .01 for the overall F ratio at Step 3) for all five dependent variables:









pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance

for diversity, and openness to experience. The main models accounted for variances in

five dependent variables between 5% and 10%. In the first step gender and experience

together accounted for a significant variance in all of the dependent variables. In the

second step, rationalism and constructivism scores accounted for a significant amount of

additional variance in all of the dependent variables after controlling for the variance

explained by gender and experience. In the third step, however, rationalism-by-

experience and constructivism-by-experience interaction terms failed to account for a

significant additional amount of variance in any of the dependent variables after

controlling the variance explained by gender, experience and adherence to rationalist and

constructivist epistemologies. No significant levels of the remaining variance in the

dependent variables can be explained by the interaction terms.

To identify the location and direction of the effects on each of these dependent

variables, we examined a standardized beta coefficient for each predictor. The results

indicated that being women led to higher scores on pursuit of self-awareness and

attending to emotions in comparison to being men. The number of years spent in practice

had a negative effect on pursuit of self-awareness, and a positive effect on ambiguity

tolerance, social tolerance and openness to experience. Participant adherence to

rationalist epistemology were negatively related to all of the dependent variables; higher

rationalism scores predicting lower scores on the pursuit of self-awareness, attending to

emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and openness to experience. By contrast,

participant adherence to constructivist epistemology were positively related to all of the

dependent variables; higher constructivism scores predicting higher scores on the pursuit









of self-awareness, attending to emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and

openness to experience. There were no significant additional rationalism-by-experience

and constructivism-by-experience interaction effects for any of the dependent variables.

Therapists with higher levels of constructivist tendencies did not score higher on pursuit

of self-awareness, attending to emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and

openness to experience than therapists with lower levels of constructivist tendencies as

the years they spent in practice increased. Nor did therapists' increasing levels of

rationalism interact with their levels of experience in relation to their levels of self-

awareness, attending to emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and openness to

experience scores. The magnitudes of the effect sizes of the main analyses were between

.05 and .11 which correspond to small to medium effects (Cohen, 1992). Strength of the

relations between the independent variables and the dependent variables were found to be

limited, but not trivial (Cohen, 1992). Obtained effect sizes suggest that results have

some practical significance in addition to statistical significance. Effect sizes for these

significant differences suggested that gender, experience, rationalism and constructivism

accounted for 5% to 11% of the variability in the dependent variable scores.









Table 3: Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses on the five dependent
variables
Variable / t R F cdf df AR2 f
Dependent Variable: Pursuit of Self-Awareness
Step 1
Gender .13 3.97**
Experience -.10 -3.10* .03 18.51** 2 1043 .03 .04
Step 2
Gender .10 3.02*
Experience -.11 -3.51**
TAQ-R -.14 -4.64**
TAQ-C .16 5.46** .08 23.87** 4 1041 .05 .09
Step 3
Gender .09 2.97*
Experience -.11 -3.50**
TAQ-R -.14 -4.62**
TAQ-C .16 5.44**
Ex TAQ-R -.01 -.45
ExTAQ-C .01 .20 .08 15.93** 6 1039 .00 .09
Dependent Variable: Attending to Emotions
Step 1
Gender .22 6.76**
Experience -.00 -.09 .05 25.60** 2 1044 .05 .05
Step 2
Gender .18 5.84**
Experience -.01 -.41
TAQ-R -.12 -4.12**
TAQ-C .18 6.03** .10 27.92** 4 1042 .05 .11
Step 3
Gender .18 5.76**
Experience -.01 -.41
TAQ-R -.12 -4.11**
TAQ-C .18 6.01**
Ex TAQ-R -.02 -.79
ExTAQ-C -.00 -.03 .10 18.69** 6 1040 .00 .11
Dependent Variable: Ambiguity Tolerance


Step 1
Gender -.05
Experience .14
Step 2
Gender -.08
Experience .13
TAQ-R -.20
TAQ-C .14
Step 3
Gender -.08


-1.52
4.41**

-2.56
4.00**
-6.67**
4.48**


.03 14.22**





.09 25.27**


2 1008 .03





4 1006 .06


-2.58









Table 3. Continued.
Variable / t R2 F cdf df2 AR2 f
Experience .13 4.00**
TAQ-R -.20 -6.65**
TAQ-C .14 4.47**
Ex TAQ-R -.01 -.28
ExTAQ-C .01 .20 .09 16.84** 6 1004 .000 .10
Dependent Variable: Social Tolerance
Step 1
Gender .08 2.43
Experience .12 3.66** .01 7.58* 2 1047 .01 .01
Step 2
Gender .05 1.60
Experience .11 3.49**
TAQ-R -.11 -3.56**
TAQ-C .15 4.86** .05 13.82** 4 1045 .04 .05
Step 3
Gender .05 1.59
Experience .11 3.48*
TAQ-R -.11 -3.60**
TAQ-C .15 4.84**
Ex TAQ-R -.01 -.36
ExTAQ-C -.03 -1.02 .05 9.39** 6 1043 .00 .05
Dependent Variable: Openness to Experience
Step 1
Gender .07 2.25
Experience .12 3.66** .01 7.37* 2 1047 .01 .01
Step 2
Gender .04 1.16
Experience .10 3.20*
TAQ-R -.18 -5.94**
TAQ-C .15 4.87** .07 19.80** 4 1045 .06 .08
Step 3
Gender .04 1.12
Experience .10 3.21*
TAQ-R -.18 -5.88**
TAQ-C .15 4.87**
Ex TAQ-R -.01 -.23
Ex TAQ-C .04 1.22 .07 13.46** 6 1043 .00 .08
Note. E = Experience; TAQ-R = Therapist Assumption Scale Rationalism; TAQ-C
Therapist Assumption Scale Constructivism
*p<.01 **p<.001














CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION

The discussion section is composed of three sections. First, the overall hypotheses

and findings of the study are summarized. Second, a detailed account of the findings is

provided where the results are interpreted in the light of literature on epistemology and

therapists' personal experiences. At last, limitations and implications of the present study

were presented, together with further suggestions for future studies.

Summary of the Results

Overall, the results of the present study supported the primary hypotheses regarding

the relationship between epistemic style and selected therapist characteristics. These

include the pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, ambiguity tolerance, social

tolerance and openness to experience. Findings suggested that higher constructivism

scores predicted higher levels of these characteristics, whereas higher rationalism scores

predicted lower levels. Obtained results also suggested that greater psychotherapy

experience as reflected in the number of years practicing psychotherapy, was positively

related to ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and openness to experience, and

negatively related to pursuit of self-awareness. These results were not only statistically

significant but also practically meaningful, given the nature of the effect sizes. Moreover,

there were no additional significant constructivism-by-experience, or rationalism-by-

experience interaction effects for any of the dependent variables. Thus, the results did not

support the expectation that constructivist and rationalist epistemic styles would be









differentially related to specific therapist characteristics as the years spent in professional

practice increased.

Link between Constructivist Epistemologies and Therapist Characteristics

Mahoney (1995) had suggested that basic tenets of constructivist therapies may

reinforce therapists to value and pursue self-awareness, to be more attuned to personal

feelings, to be more tolerant of ambiguous circumstances, to be more socially tolerant of

diversity and to be more open to new experiences. The primary aim of the present study

was to understand the link between epistemology and personal characteristics of

psychotherapists, and it was hypothesized that therapists' constructivist commitments

would predict these variables positively, as Mahoney (1995) suggested. Results

consistently supported this hypothesis; constructivist epistemic commitments were

positively related to participants' pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions,

ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance and openness to experience scores.

Mahoney's (1995) analyses of the assumptions of constructivist epistemologies

may be employed to interpret the obtained findings. The constructivist worldview

assumes that therapists' understanding of a client will be limited by their perceptions and

constructions, and therefore self-awareness is a precondition to effectively understanding

other people. In addition, a constructivist perspective conceptualizes emotions as

primitive knowing systems, and therefore emotional attunement is vital to exploring and

understanding the client and his or her presenting problems. Consequently, constructivist

epistemologies might be positively related to personal attending to emotions. Further,

from a constructivist position, neither the direction nor the outcomes of therapy can be

clearly detailed at the outset. Instead, these processes and directions gradually emerge

from the complexity and ambiguity of the client's broader context and the coordinated









actions of the client and the therapist in relation to those contexts. This stance obligates

the therapist to tolerate high levels of ambiguity, both as the meaning system gradually

becomes clearer, and as it transforms itself in response to the interventions that constitute

the process of psychotherapy. Likewise the constructivist therapist assumes individual

uniqueness and recognizes that the social, historical, and cultural contexts inform the

client's presentation and his or her presenting problems. This position predisposes the

constructivist therapist to embrace social diversity and to remain open to experience. The

demands of this epistemic position commit the therapist to seek and embrace novel

experience, and for that reason be associated with generally higher levels of personal

openness.

Link between Rationalist Epistemologies and Therapist Characteristics

Various conceptual and empirical studies have suggested that constructivist and

rationalist epistemologies could differentiate the way therapists construct and conduct

psychotherapy (Lyddon, 1988; Mahoney & Gabriel, 1987; Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988).

Where constructivist epistemologies were expected to predict the levels of the specified

therapist variables positively, complementary epistemologies such as rationalism were

expected to predict the levels of these variables negatively. Therapists' rationalist

epistemologies were hypothesized to predict the levels of pursuit of self-awareness,

attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social tolerance for diversity and

openness to experience negatively. Results generally supported this expectation since

commitment to rationalist epistemologies was negatively related to their scores on these

personal qualities.

These findings can be interpreted by scrutinizing the basic assumptions of

rationalist epistemologies. Rationalist therapists tend to operate assuming that they are









objective observers of the stable and single reality, and they can correct their clients'

faulty cognitions of reality. Therefore, rationalist therapists might be less required to be

insightful about their thoughts, feelings, attitudes, expectations or motivations.

Rationalists perceive negative emotions as outcomes of dysfunctional cognitions, and

rational therapists might be less likely to engage in emotional attunement for that reason.

Rationalist epistemologies are relatively simple, straightforward and clear, leaving less

room for ambiguity; therefore, therapists with rationalist epistemologies might be less

tolerant of that ambiguity. The relatively constrained and straightforward nature of

rationalist therapies and dichotomous thinking underlying rationalist epistemologies

might hinder deeper appreciation of and tolerance for human differences. Rationalism by

itself might not require its adherents to be socially tolerant in relation to diverse forms of

living, because critical processes of human change are presumed to be uniform and

universal. Consequently, the need to be open to new understandings or experiences may

be diminished correspondingly, given that reality is assumed to be single and set and that

therapists can capably assist clients to make contact with that objective reality and, as a

result, address and resolve their presenting problems. In general, the more clearly

determined, definitive and confident nature of this epistemological standpoint might lead

it to be associated with lower levels of personal openness to experience.

Link between Therapy Experience and Therapist Characteristics

Previous studies that have investigated how seeing clients and conducting therapy

affect the practitioners' personal lives have asked psychotherapists about the impact of

their work on their life experiences (Farber, 1983; Radeke & Mahoney, 2000). These

self-reports of psychotherapists in general suggested that therapists may change in

complex ways as a result of their conducting psychotherapy. Among other things,









psychotherapists have reported that conducting psychotherapy had increased their self-

awareness, their appreciation for other human beings, and their tolerance for ambiguity

(Farber, 1983; Radeke & Mahoney, 2000), and that it had changed their value systems,

making them better and wiser human beings (Radeke & Mahoney, 2000). The present

study supported these general findings insofar as the number of years spent in clinical

practice was positively related to higher levels of ambiguity tolerance, social tolerance

and openness to experience scores. In other words, regardless of their epistemic

commitments, therapists' reported higher tolerance for ambiguity, higher tolerance for

social diversity, and higher levels of openness as the number of years spent in

professional practice increased.

In addition, higher levels of psychotherapy experience were generally related to

lower levels of self-awareness, and experience did not relate to either self-awareness or

the extent to which therapists reported attending to emotions. These findings are

inconsistent with previous work in this area. The one-hour interviews that Farber (1983)

conducted with 60 therapists, for example, indicated that therapist awareness increased as

a function of the amount of psychotherapy experience. Similarly, compared to

researchers, Mahoney and Radeke (2000) found that practicing psychotherapists'

reported higher levels of self-awareness as a consequence of their work. Findings of the

present study may raise questions regarding the validity of the psychotherapists' self-

reports of the personal impact of their work.

The discrepancy between the findings of the previous studies and the findings of

the present study may be explained by the fact that previous studies depended on

therapists self-reports of increased self-awareness, whereas the current study measured









therapists' dedication the pursuit of self-awareness, rather than their attainment of self-

awareness, per se. Although questioning inner experiences could be one road to self-

awareness, awareness could have been achieved without conscious questioning of how

one is feeling, thinking or doing at a given moment. With more practice, therapists might

have been gaining experience in being touch with their inner experiences without

conscious inquiry; or the inquiry might have been less available to notice and report. On

the other hand, therapists might simply refrain from questioning their personal

experiences as they conduct more psychotherapy. Years spent in clinical practice might

have hindered the private self-consciousness of therapists. Just as conducting therapy

induced emotional exhaustion (Radeke & Mahoney, 2000), it might be inducing self-

distancing self-consciousness. Failing to measure therapists' actual self-awareness and

the limiting aspect of cross-sectional designs restricts empirical validation or invalidation

of the available self-reports.

Epistemology-by-Experience Interaction on Therapist Characteristics

Mahoney (1995) asserted that conducting therapy in any form within any

framework would have its own challenges, yet since constructivist therapies are

characterized by heightened subjectivity, emotionality, ambiguity and diversity,

conducting therapy with constructivist mindset would have amplified challenges for

therapists. It was hypothesized that although conducting therapy by itself would

positively affect the levels of specified therapist characteristics, conducting therapy with

constructivist mindset would positively moderate the impact of conducting therapy on the

level of these personal qualities. Conducting psychotherapy was expected to differentially

relate to the specified therapist characteristics by levels of therapists' constructivist

commitments, such that therapists with higher levels of constructivist commitment would









obtain higher scores on these variables as they continue to accrue psychotherapy

experience. However, findings failed to reveal any additional constructivism-by-

experience interaction for any of the dependent variables. Contrary to the expectations of

Mahoney (1995), the present results failed to support the suggestion that constructivist

epistemologies would be more positively related to higher levels of these variables across

the course of greater psychotherapy experience.

The present study also questioned whether conducting psychotherapy can be

differentially related to the specified therapist characteristics by levels of therapists'

commitment to rationalist epistemologies. Findings failed to reveal any additional

rationalism-by-experience interaction for any of the dependent variables. Specified

therapist characteristics were equally related to the psychotherapy practice by varying

levels of therapist commitment to rationalist epistemologies.

Our results supported the expectations ofNeimeyer et al. (2005) and Mahoney

(1995) that therapists' personal characteristics are related to their epistemological

commitments, yet results failed to support the expectations that the impact of practical

experience on therapist qualities might be further differentiated by psychotherapists'

epistemological commitments. Being constructivist or being rationalist does not relate to

the interplay between conducting therapy and specified therapist characteristics.

Our failure to find any experience-by-epistemology interaction effects on therapist

characteristics may be explained by our operationalization of therapist experience.

Investigating how epistemological commitments can relate to therapists' personal change

fueled by clinical practice, the current study focused on the number of years the

practitioners spent in clinical practice to tap on the variable of experience that may not









fully reflect the nature of the psychotherapeutic experience, either quantitatively or

qualitatively. A therapist with limited years of experience might have had several

remarkable experiences that left personal marks, whereas another therapist with longer

years of experience might not have experienced encounters that were significant enough

to have registered any impact on the therapist. In other words, nature or quality of the

experiences were neither assessed nor controlled. Crude estimation of therapists'

experience of conducting therapy in terms of years spent practice might have concealed

the interaction of epistemology and experience in defining therapists' personal qualities.

Limitations of the Present Study and Directions for Future Research

The external validity of the findings might have been compromised by some

limiting aspects of this study such as the characteristics of participants or data collection

procedure. First, those who volunteered to participate may be a biased sample.

Volunteers are known to differ from non-volunteers in behavioral research with respect to

their level of education, intelligence and desire of social approval (Rosenthal & Rosnow,

1975, as cited in Raquepaw & Miller, 1989). Collecting data via Internet may further

differentiate the characteristics of the participants who volunteered to participate in the

study from non-volunteers. However, inviting psychologists registered to APA-

practice.org in every state of U.S. and having a population with a sample size over one

thousand practicing professional might have increased the respresentativeness of the

sample and thus, the generalizability of the obtained findings. Yet, it is also important to

note that we cannot determine the representativeness of the sample vis-a-vis the larger

field since we can neither completely determine the characteristics of the over 15,000









individuals who we contacted, nor we can assure that they did not forward the invitation

email to other colleagues.

The self-report nature of the present study is another aspect that may limit the

generalizability of the findings given that self-reports are subject to distortion and social

desirability effects. Moreover, self-reports may not correlate well with the participants'

actual behavior or experience (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991).

Another limiting factor to the study is its cross-sectional design that restricts the

interpretability of the findings regarding longitudinal changes. Although including the

number of year participants spent in clinical practice provides the study a quasi-

longitudinal aspect, the present study was just examining cross-sectional differences that

can be contaminated by a range of threats to validity, including cohort effects. Genuinely

longitudinal studies are needed in order to permit stronger claims about how therapists'

personal qualities were colored by their epistemological commitments across the course

of their psychotherapeutic experience.

It is also important to note that the obtained findings are simply associations

between the variables of interest and do not imply causal relationships. For instance,

therapists with constructivist epistemologies may tend to be more open to experience;

however we cannot claim that therapists' constructivist epistemologies cause them to

have higher levels of openness. Results can only suggest relationships, not necessarily

causality.

Despite the apparent limitations in the present study, the study does contribute to

the understanding of the relationship between epistemic style and therapists' personal

experiences. The present findings empirically support the claims of Mahoney (1995) and









Neimeyer et al. (2005) that therapists' epistemic style can relate to therapists' personal

experiences and characteristics. The present study opens up a fertile area of research to

investigate the link between epistemologies and various sets of personal characteristics.

Whereas this study separately studied the association between epistemologies and

personal qualities, future studies can compare personal characteristics of individuals with

constructivist and rationalist epistemologies to further our understanding. How various

epistemological commitments are associated with other sets of personal characteristics

can be studied.

Most importantly, future studies can investigate further implications of the link

between epistemology and personal characteristics. For instance, many schools of

psychotherapy consider the therapists' capacity to deeply understand him or herself as the

first-step in managing the stressful experience of conducting psychotherapy (Jaffe, 1986;

Carroll, Gilroy, & Murra, 1999; Norcross, 2000), and self-awareness and self-monitoring

were ranked as the most important contributors of the well functioning by a group of

professional psychologists and program directors (Coster & Schwebel, 1997; Schwebel &

Coster, 1998). Considering that therapists with constructivist epistemologies are found to

be more open to question their state of mind and feelings, they may be protected against

the negative effects of conducting psychotherapy such as burnout. Future studies can also

investigate such a link between epistemology and therapist burnout.

Complementary ways of acquiring and evaluating knowledge and understanding

the world are equally valuable. As Lyddon (1989b) suggested "... none of these

worldviews provides the "correct" or best" frame of reference. They simply suggest

different forms of understanding, inquiry, and theory."(p. 446). Their differences should









not cloud the fact that both rationalism and constructivism offers extended understanding

of the "complexities of human experience" (Mahoney & Lyddon, 1988, p. 223). The

present study was fueled by the conceptualizations of Mahoney (1995) about therapist

characteristics possibly demanded and further facilitated by conducting therapy with

constructivist mindset. Such a start point led us to focus only on a set of characteristics

positively related to constructivism and negatively related to rationalism, and to ignore

the positive personal contributions offered by rationalist perspective. Future research can

investigate other set of characteristics that can be positively associated with rationalist

commitment such as being in control, active problem solving, ability to take charge and

sense of self-efficacy. Conducting therapy with adherence to rationalist epistemologies

had already been suggested to be advantageous for working with clients who had external

locus of control as these clients assessed behavioral or cognitive-rational therapists more

favorably (Vincent & LeBow, 1995). Future studies should reflect on the value of

rationalist epistemologies in understanding human nature and healing human suffering

and consider other sets of therapist characteristics positively associated with rationalist

epistemologies.

This study also partially validated the expectations that the number of years spent

in clinical practice relates to the therapists' personal experiences. Studies that have

investigated the effect of conducting psychotherapy and seeing clients on therapists'

personal and professional lives had suggested that therapists are affected by their work in

multiple and complex ways. Yet, our findings suggested that experience constructed as

the number of years spent in practice may not affect personal experiences always in the

way it is expected. This suggestion highlights the importance of future investigations









investigating to what extent and under which conditions those claims made by

researchers and psychotherapists themselves can be empirically validated. Future

research may also incorporate the perspectives of significant others such as partners or

parents, in addition to therapists' reports of characteristics, to examine the personal

impact of conducting psychotherapy.

The number of years therapists spent in clinical practice does not fully reflect the

nature of the psychotherapeutic experience and remains to be a crude indicator of

personal experience of conducting psychotherapy. Future research investigating the

personal impact of conducting therapy can employ variables other than the number of

years spent in practice of experience to tap on therapists' professional experience, or

directly ask therapists and/or therapists' significant others how therapists were personally

affected by conducting psychotherapy.

The central questions that guided the present study concerned whether the personal

effect of conducting therapy can be differential for therapists with differing

epistemological commitments. However, the cross-sectional nature of our study, without

any assessment pertaining to perceived or observed impact of conducting therapy on

therapists, limits our ability to address this question in any definitive manner. In spite of

these limitations, the present study provides one of the first empirical attempts to explore

this question. The present study suggests that epistemological tendencies are linked to

several personal characteristics of therapists, and that constructivist and rationalist

epistemologies are differentially related to these personal characteristics. Obtained results

may stimulate further research that investigates whether the personal impact of being a









psychotherapist and conducting psychotherapy is differential for therapists with

complementary or different epistemological commitments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the present study examined the relationship between epistemic style,

therapist characteristics and therapists' experience of conducting psychotherapy. Results

of the study suggested that therapists' epistemologies were associated with the levels of

their pursuit of self-awareness, attending to emotions, tolerance for ambiguity, social

tolerance for diversity and openness to experience. Therapists with stronger constructivist

epistemologies tended to score higher on these personal variables when therapists' level

of experience is held constant, whereas therapists with stronger rationalist epistemologies

tended to score lower on these personal variables. Experienced therapists tended to score

lower on pursuit of self-awareness, while they tended to score higher on ambiguity

tolerance, social tolerance and openness to experience. Results of the study also revealed

that relationship between the number of years spent in practice and the specified personal

qualities did not vary with the levels of therapists' epistemological commitments.

Therapists with constructivist epistemologies did not come to pursue self-awareness, to

attend to emotions, to tolerate ambiguity, to tolerate social diversity or to be open more as

they practice more. Therapists' rationalist epistemologies did not interact with practice to

affect the level of these personal qualities either.

The present study extended the developing literature on epistemology as a factor

relating to psychotherapists' personal characteristics. Additional work is needed to

understand how epistemology is interwoven with psychotherapists' professional and

personal lives. The present study also provided literature with tentative empirical findings

regarding the impact of conducting therapy on therapist characteristics. Additional and






92


ideally longitudinal work is needed to clarify how conducting therapy colors therapists'

personal lives. The present study was the first study empirically investigating the

epistemology-by-practice interactions on therapists' personal qualities. Although the

results failed to support the expected interactions for the specified characteristics,

subsequent work may benefit from focusing on how epistemologies further interact with

the practice of conducting psychotherapy in shaping and informing the psychotherapists'

personal experiences.