The authors investigated 2 competing hypotheses related to therapists' worldview and therapists' race/ethnicity: (a) whether therapists of different racial/ethnic groups differed on worldview reflecting group membership, and (b) whether therapists were similar to each other on worldview reflecting membership in a "therapist culture." Results indicated that therapists shared similar worldviews regardless of group membership, and differences found between therapists based on racial/ethnic membership were minimal.
Worldview refers to how people perceive their relationship to the world of nature, institutions, and other people (D. W. Sue, 1981); it is a general conception of one's place in the universe (Horner & Vandersluis, 1981) and is made up of all the presuppositions and assumptions people are socialized to hold about the makeup of the world (Sarason, 1984). To investigate worldview, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (196 1) developed five existential themes, or value orientations, that "give order and direction to the ever-flowing stream of human acts and thoughts as these relate to the solutions of common human problems" (p. 341). Kluckhohn (1968) posited that all people must answer certain common questions in five value spheres addressing human nature, social relationships, person to nature, time, and human J a m e s R. Mahalik is a n associate professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental. & Educational Psychology a t Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.