MENTOR REACTIONS TO PROTEGES - AN EXPERIMENT WITH MANAGERS

One hundred and forty-five managers in the banking industry participated in an experiment exploring the effects of several protege characteristics on managers′ interest in mentoring the proteges. Responding managers assumed the role of mentor to a potential protege described in the experimental materials. The impact of protege performance, mentor/protege gender similarity and protege marital status was examined on mentors′ willingness to engage in mentoring behaviors, and expectation of rewards from the relationship. Key findings were that (1) mentors anticipated greater rewards for themselves and were more willing to engage in mentoring behaviors the better the past performance of the protege and (2) mentors were more willing to engage in career enhancing behaviors on proteges′ behalf and anticipated greater rewards to themselves if male proteges were married and female proteges were single. The paper concludes with a discussion of these findings and implications for the mentoring process. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc.