The Relation of Level of Facilitative Conditions,Consultant Experience,and Stage of Consultation to Consultees' Perceptions of the Use of Direct Confrontation

Controversy surrounds the use of confrontation in human services consultation. This analogue study investigated the effects of facilitative consultative conditions, consultant experience, and the stage of consultation in which confrontation occurs on consultees' perceptions of the use of direct confrontation. Graduate student participants viewed and then rated the consultants' use of confrontation in 16 videotaped scenarios of a consultation interaction representing combinations of the independent variables (facilitative conditions, consultant experience, and stage of consultation) and containing a consultant-initiated direct confrontation. The study was replicated with a group of undergraduate students taking counseling courses. Results for both groups suggest that facilitative conditions, consultant experience, and the stage of consultation in which confrontation occurs interact in influencing consultees' perceptions of confrontation. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practice and future research efforts.