Advancing the understanding of factors that influence client preferences for race and gender matching in psychotherapy

Although clients sometimes prefer having a counselor of their same race or gender, research generally does not show that racial/gender matching improves outcomes. Two studies explored matching preferences as a function of being informed (or not) about the lack of evidence for its efficacy, and the role of two individual difference variables, systemizing and strength of cultural identification. Studies 1 (n = 129) and 2 (n = 172) investigated preferences for racial and gender matching, respectively. Participants were randomly assigned to be “Informed” that research shows matching does not lead to superior outcomes, or “Uninformed.” Using a discounting paradigm, they indicated their preference between more effective, unmatched therapy, or less effective, matched therapy; then between unmatched in-person therapy or matched teletherapy. Across studies, being informed did not affect preferences, and participants preferred unmatched in-person treatment to matched teletherapy. Lower systemizing and stronger identification with a culture other than White/European American were associated with stronger race/gender matching preferences. Black/African American participants had higher racial matching preferences compared to others, and Asian/Asian American participants (largely male) had higher gender matching preferences. This suggests clients may disregard information about the effectiveness of race/gender matching on outcomes, and they value in-person treatment over teletherapy.