What do proteges look for in a mentor? Results of three experimental studies

Abstract

This paper presents results of three experiments designed to examine the determinants of potential protege attraction into a relationship with a mentor. After summarizing mentoring research to date, several exploratory hypotheses were derived regarding the impact of mentor characteristics (gender, age, and integration into the organization's decision-making network), mentor behaviors (level of interpersonal competence), and protege characteristics (gender, age, and previous work experience) on attraction into a mentoring relationship. A simulation was designed for the experimental task, and a total of 675 subjects participated in the three studies. The main results across the three studies suggested that (1) even relatively small increments in managers' level of interpersonal competence significantly affected protege attraction to the potential mentor; (2) integration of the potential mentor into the decision-making network of the organization significantly affected protege attraction only if the potential mentor's interpersonal skills were not strong; (3) while some sex differences in respondent reactions occurred, there was no consistent evidence of preferences for a male mentor among male respondents or preferences for a female mentor among female respondents; (4) younger respondents were more attracted to potential mentors than were older proteges; and (5) respondents' work experience and the potential mentor's age did not have a significant effect on respondent attraction to the manager as mentor. The findings were interpreted in light of the strengths and weaknesses of these studies, and suggestions were made for future research focusing on the attraction stage of the mentoring relationship.