The relationship between counselor trainees' level of dogmatism, their demographic characteristics and their scores on the cultural attitudes repertory technique

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between counselor trainees' level of dogmatism, their demographic characteristics and their scores on the Cultural Attitudes Repertory Technique (CART), a subjective measure of the content and organization of an individual's cultural attitudes. Participants' level of dogmatism was measured by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale - Form E. The Cultural Attitudes Repertory Technique produced two scores which reflect the structural properties of an individual's cultural construct system. These scores are the Functionally Independent Construction (FIC) scale and the Ordination (Ord) scale.The participants were 25 students enrolled in a masters program in Counseling at the University of Miami. All participants completed the Dogmatism Scale, the demographic questionnaire and the CART prior to participating in an 8 hour multicultural training module designed to address the developmental needs of a counselor in the first stage of multicultural training. Following the training, the CART was re-administered.The multiple regression analysis, consisting of the Dogmatism Scale and demographic characteristics as predictor variables and the CART as the criterion variable did not identify a statistically significant prediction equation. Further discussion of the results and explanations for these results were presented.Recommendations for future research included employing a larger sample size, using multitrait-multimethod predictor and criterion variables, conducting further validation studies of the CART and using control groups to assess causality and investigate the impact of this training module. Additional recommendations included the development of other instruments for use in the field of multicultural training.