Abstract
A growing literature recognizes the benefits associated with mentorship. Less well understood, however, are the mechanisms that explain why informal mentoring relationships are more positively associated with protégé career outcomes than formal mentoring relationships. Using an experimental vignette method, we examine how the source of mentorship initiation (mentor-initiated vs. organization-initiated) influences protégés’ reflected appraisal of their mentoring relationships. Participants (N = 392) in mentor-initiated relationships anticipated mentors to be more genuinely interested in their development than protégés in organization-initiated relationships. Subsequent analyses demonstrated the source of mentorship initiation indirectly predicted mentoring expectations (i.e., anticipated vocational and psychosocial mentoring functions) through genuine interest. An important boundary condition for this finding, however, was that the source of mentorship initiation mattered more when there was uncertainty surrounding mentors’ abilities and intentions. That is, mentors described with high levels of interpersonal responsiveness were perceived as genuine regardless of how the relationship was initiated. Our results provide insight into the way that the initiation phase of mentoring relationships shapes initial perceptions and expectancies of a mentor.
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source of mentorship initiation on vocational and psychosocial mentoring functions through genuine interest and perceived obligation
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/7vmnp/?view_only=c9c8c25121f4401fa6c98baa813da41c., reference number osf.io/7vmnp.
Code Availability
The syntax for the analysis is openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/7vmnp/?view_only=c9c8c25121f4401fa6c98baa813da41c., reference number osf.io/7vmnp.
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This study was funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (430–2018-00945).
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Michael Godfrey: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis; Writing- Original draft preparation. Alex Benson: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis; Writing-Review & Editing; Supervision.
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Godfrey, M., Benson, A. Seeds of doubt: How the source of mentorship initiation influences mentoring expectations. Curr Psychol 42, 13358–13368 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02573-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02573-y