Two Studies Involving Expectancy of the Therapeutic Agent

The recent focus on expectancy as a factor in effectiveness of therapy has tended to overlook the role of expectancy of the treatment agent. Study 1 showed manipulated expectancies of a mental hospital staff predicted favorability of discharge for 10 patients ( p < .057). In the second study, a therapeutic analogue, neither “patients'” nor “therapists'” expectancies directly predicted amount of change in 64 students. Congruency of expectancy, however, interacted with “therapists'” warmth or coolness to influence amount of change.