Factors Influencing Social Workers' Relationship to Their Clients: A Test of Social Psychological Theories

Abstract

The study examines the application of general social psychological theories on the development of relationships between people (mere exposure effect, similarity-attraction effect, triangular theory of love) to the special case of the relationship between counselor and client. Two hundred and twenty-eight social workers from Germany took part in the online survey on their relationship with their clients. The results show that (1) the degree of familiarity with clients increases with the frequency of contact with them, (2) the degree of perceived similarity with clients increases with the quality of the relationship, and (3) social workers' tendency to experience romantic feelings toward clients is influenced by the desire for emotional and physical closeness and the willingness to form a long-term commitment. Finally, the implications of the results for shaping the relationship in social work are discussed.