Date of Award

6-1-2014

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Jean Rhodes

Second Advisor

Sarah Hayes-Skelton

Third Advisor

Alice Carter

Abstract

Little is known about why mentors volunteer, and how their motivations may impact the mentoring relationship. This study sought to investigate mentor characteristics measured at the beginning of a match, and how they would affect mentors' approach to the relationship nine months into the match. The sample consisted of twenty-one mentors from a Big Brothers, Big Sisters agency, ranging from 20 to 46 years old. Values and Self-Enhancement motivations for mentoring had negative associations with an emotional sharing approach, whereas mentors with more Protective motivations were positively associated with emotional sharing, intellectual development, and character development approaches. Mentors who were White more strongly endorsed sharing emotionally, males were more likely to endorse intellectual and academic development, and older volunteers were more likely to endorse character development. Lastly, self-efficacy predicted stronger endorsement of emotional sharing and character development. Implications of this study for mentoring programs and future research are also discussed.

Comments

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