Mentoring as an Investment: A Quantitative Review of Mentoring and Well-Being for the Protégé

Abstract

Although mentoring often confers valuable benefits to the protégé, mentoring may also entail costs (e.g., time, effort, ego threat), resulting in added stressors and strain. Drawing on the job demands-resources model, the present quantitative review examines how mentoring influences protégé stressors and strains. We reviewed 90 published and unpublished studies with at least one mentoring variable and one stressor or strain measure to identify commonly studied relationships to analyze (e.g., mentoring functions received and role conflict). Due largely to heterogeneity in the operationalization of mentoring, only 18 samples representing six effects could be aggregated. Results indicate that mentoring may have both positive and negative relationships with stressors and strains. This is consistent with the job demands-resources theory, which suggests that job demands induce strain, but these job demands may be mitigated by resources that may be available via characteristics of the mentoring relationship.