The relationship between attitude toward face-to-face and online psychological counseling and personal traits and self-stigma

This study examined how personality traits and self-stigmatization predict face-to-face and online counseling attitudes. The participant group of the study consisted of 500 university students. In the data collection process, the Attitudes Towards Online and Face-to-Face Counseling Scale, the Adjective-Based Personality Test, the Self-Stigma in Seeking Psychological Help Scale, and the Personal Information Form were used. According to the results of the study, according to the personality traits of the students, openness to experience and agreeableness dimensions positively predicted their values towards online counseling. The dimension of emotional instability positively predicts the discomfort with online counseling, and the dimension of conscientiousness negatively predicts the discomfort with online counseling. In addition, emotional instability, openness to experience, and agreeableness positively predicted the value of face-to-face counseling, whereas emotional instability positively predicted discomfort with face-to-face counseling. While self-stigmatization scores negatively predicted the value of face-to-face and online counseling, they positively predicted discomfort with face-to-face and online counseling. Regarding gender, it was determined that women's value scores for face-to-face and online counseling and men's discomfort scores for face-to-face and online counseling were significantly higher. In addition, previous counseling status also showed significant differences in terms of discomfort with face-to-face and online counseling and the value of face-to-face counseling. The results were discussed in the light of the literature and recommendations were presented for researchers and professionals in the field.