77 Although researchers have found that patient weight bias negatively impacts health care professionals, research is limited on client weight bias toward counselors. Given that a client’s perception of their counselor impacts the therapeutic alliance, more research is needed to understand client weight bias toward counselors. To fill this research gap, we conducted a quasi-experimental study examining people’s weight bias toward a hypothetical counselor who was overweight, average weight, or underweight. Participants (N = 189) received a random assignment to a questionnaire featuring one of the three hypothetical counselors. Participants indicated their willingness to trust them, select them as a counselor, and follow their counsel. Results from a Welch ANOVA analysis showed a statistically significantly greater preference for average-weight and overweight counselors than those who are underweight. Additionally, the participants were less willing to follow counsel from overweight and underweight counselors. Implications for counselors are discussed. Keywords: client weight bias, overweight, underweight, average weight, counselors Body weight can inform a client’s perception of a health professional’s level of authority, trust, and competence (Hutson, 2013; Schwartz et al., 2006). Researchers have found that overweight bias toward health professionals like fitness instructors and medical physicians results in negative impressions (Hutson, 2013; Puhl et al., 2013; Puhl & Heuer, 2010). Clients may perceive lower competence, conscientiousness, personal grooming, and intrapersonal ability for overweight individuals compared to average-weight ones (Allison & Lee, 2015). When people seek mental health treatment, these perceptions may hinder their selection of a counselor who is perceived as overweight. Additionally, research on underweight bias has emerged that shows adverse outcomes toward underweight individuals (Allison & Lee, 2015; Beggan & DeAngelis, 2015; Davies et al., 2020a). Despite research on overweight and underweight bias in health professionals, limited research on either topic exists in the counseling profession. Research on weight bias is necessary for counseling given that counselor attributes have the potential to be an integral part of a client’s decision-making and change process (Hauser & Hays, 2010). Attributes of a counselor that may affect client impressions, such as attractiveness (Grimes & Murdock, 1989) or race (Kim & Kang, 2018; Meyer & Zane, 2013), illuminate the social influence process of counseling (McKee & Smouse, 1983). Social influence is pervasive in the judgments of people everywhere. Weight bias continues to be a product of social influence and, as such, weaves stereotypes into the minds of those who consume the message of weight as a moral indiscretion (Beggan & DeAngelis, 2015). As clients search for, build trust with, and consider life changes with a counselor, weight bias ought to be explored as a potential issue for counselors. In the past 35 years, researchers published only one study about weight perceptions toward overweight counselors (Moller & Tischner, 2019). Furthermore, there were no published studies about underweight counselors found. This gap in research is notable, as body weight can influence clients’ first impressions of a counselor and their expectations of the ensuing relationship (Moller & Tischner, The Professional Counselor™ Volume 13, Issue 2, Pages 77–97 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2023 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi: 10.15241/ab.13.2.77 Amy Biang, Clare Merlin-Knoblich, Stella Y. Kim An Examination of Client Bias Toward Overweight, Underweight, and Average-Weight Counselors Amy Biang, PhD, LCMHC, CEDS, is an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University. Clare Merlin-Knoblich, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Stella Y. Kim, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Correspondence may be addressed to Amy Biang, 15451 N 28th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85053, amy.biang@nau.edu.
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