Interaction of client class and gender in biasing clinical judgement.

Class and gender and determinants of therapists' perceptions of clients were investigated in a survey of 418 psychologists presented with a case history that manipulated all possible combinations of client class (working/middle) and gender (male/female). Findings suggest that among male clients, the higher the social class, the more favorable the therapists' attitude; among female clients, the trend is in the opposite direction. Results are discussed in the context of the sexual division of labor and differential expectations for male and female clients in therapy.