Mexican Americans' bilingual ability, counselor bilingualism cues, counselor ethnicity, and perceived counselor credibility.

Abstract

In a completely crossed, factorial design, 186 Mexican American college students were exposed to a counselor introduction that identified her as either Mexican American or Canadian American, followed by an audiotape-recorded bogus counseling session in which the counselor either spoke English only or English combined with cues of Spanish-speaking ability. After listening to the tape-recorded counseling session, participants rated the counselor's credibility and cross-cultural competence. No effect was found on ratings for counselor language or counselor ethnicity. However, ratings of both counselor credibility and cross-cultural competence were found to be a function of participants' bilingual ability. Combined with evidence of a similar relationship between generation since immigration and ratings of the counselor, these findings suggest that, as Mexican Americans acculturate, their perceptions of counselor credibility and cross-cultural competence diminish.