A comprehensive review of the mentoring literature reveals that unpleasant aspects of mentoring relationships at work have been understudied. This persists, despite evidence that dysfunctions may be occurring in mentoring relationships. A typology of negative mentoring styles is presented. Next, a model of outcomes that may be associated with dysfunctional mentoring is developed to underscore the need to investigate the full range of mentorship in future work.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arthur, M. B., & Rousseau, D. M. (1996). The boundaryless career: A new employment principle for a new organizational era. NY: Oxford University Press.
2.
Aryee, S., Wyatt, T., & Stone, R. (1996). Early career outcomes of graduate employees: The effect of mentoring and ingratiation. Journal of Management Studies, 33:95-118.
3.
Auster, D. (1984). Mentors and proteges: Power-dependent dyads. Sociological Inquiry, 54: 142-153.
4.
Boon, S. D. (1994). Dispelling doubt and uncertainty: Trust in romantic relationships. In S. Duck (Ed.), Dynamics of Relationships, 4: 86-111
5.
Bragg, A. (1989). Is a mentor program in your future?Sales & Marketing Management, September: 54-63.
6.
Brown, C. D. (1993). Male/female mentoring: Turning risk into reward. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 36: 197-200.
7.
Burke, R. J. (1996). Performance evaluation and counselling in a professional services finn. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17: 21-27.
8.
Burke, R. J., & McKeen, C. A. (1989). Developing formal mentoring programs in organizations. Business Quarterly, 53: 76-79.
9.
Burke, R. J., McKeen, C. A., & McKenna, C. S. (1990). Sex differences and cross-sex effects on mentoring: Some preliminary data. Psychological Reports, 67: 1011-1023.
10.
Busch, J. W. (1985). Mentoring in graduate schools of education: Mentors’ perceptions. American Education Research Journal, 22: 257-265.
11.
Bushardt, S. C., Fretwell, C., & Holdnak, B. J. (1991). The mentor/protege relationship: A biological perspective. Human Relations, 44: 619-639.
12.
Chao, G. T., Walz, P. M., & Gardner, P. D. (1993). Formal and informal mentorship: A comparison of mentoring functions and contrast with nonmentored counterparts. Personnel Psychology, 45: 1-16.
13.
Clawson, J. G., & Kram, K. E. (1984). Managing cross-gender mentoring. Business Horizons, 27: 22-32.
14.
Collins, E. G., & Scott, P. (1978). Everyone who makes it has a mentor. Harvard Business Review, 56: 89-101.
15.
Darling, L. W. (1985). What to do about toxic mentors. The Journal of Nursing Administrators, 15: 43-44.
16.
Dreher, G. F., & Ash, R. (1990). A comparative study of mentoring among men and women in managerial, professional, and technical positions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75: 525-535.
17.
Dreher, G. F., & Cox, T. H. Jr. (1996). Race, gender, and opportunity: A study of compensation attainment and the establishment of mentoring relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81: 297-308.
18.
Duck, S. (1988). Relating to others. Stratford, U.K. Open University Press.
19.
Duck, S. (1994). Strategems, spoils, and a serpent’s tooth: On the delights and dilemmas of personal relationships. In W. R. Cupach & B. H. Spitzberg (Eds.), The dark side of interpersonal communication (pp. 3-24). Hillsdale, N J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
20.
Fagenson, E. A. (1988). The power of a mentor: Proteges’ and nonproteges’ perceptions of their own power in an organization. Group and Organizational Studies, 13: 182-192.
21.
Fagenson, E. A. (1989). The mentor advantage: Perceived career/job experiences of proteges vs. non-proteges. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10: 309-320.
22.
Fitt, L. W., & Newton, D. A. (1981). When the mentor is a man and the protege is a woman. Harvard Business Review, March/April: 56–60.
23.
Forret, M. L., Turban, D. B., & Dougherty, T. W. (1996). Issues facing organizations when implementing formal mentoring programmes. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17: 27-30.
24.
Graziano, W. G., & Musser, L. M. (1982). The joining and the parting of the ways. In S. Duck (Ed.), Personal Relationships 4: Dissolving Personal Relationships. NY: Academic Press.
25.
Graen, G. B., & Scandura, T. A. (1987). Toward a psychology of dyadic organizing. In B. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 9, pp. 175-208). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
26.
Green, S. G., & Bauer, T. A. (1995). Supervisory mentoring by advisers: Relationships with doctoral student potential, productivity, and commitment. Personnel Psychology, 48: 537-561.
27.
Hansson, R. O., Jones, W. H., & Fletcher, W. L. (1990). Troubled relationships in later life: Implications for support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7: 451-463.
28.
Hennefrund, W. (1986). Taking the measure of mentoring. Association Management, 38: 78-83.
29.
Hunt, D. M., & Michael, C. (1983). Mentorship: A career training and development tool. Academy of Management Review, 8: 475-485.
30.
Hurley, A., & Fagenson-Eland, E. A. (1996). Challenges in cross-gender mentoring relationships: Psychological intimacy, myths, rumors, innuendoes and sexual harassment. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17: 42-49.
31.
lbarra, H. (1992). Race, opportunity, and diversity of social circles in managerial networks. Academy of Management Journal, 38: 673-703.
32.
Jacobi, M. (1991). Mentoring an undergraduate academic success: A literature review. Review of Educational Research, 61: 505-532.
33.
Kanter, R. M. (1977). Men and women of the corporation. NY: Basic Books.
34.
Kizilos, P. (1990). Take my mentor, please!Training, April: 49-55.
35.
Klauss, R. (1981). Formalized mentor relationships for management and executive development in the federal government. Public Administration Review, July/August: 489-496.
36.
Koberg, C. S., Boss, R. W., Chappell, D., & Ringer, R. C. (1994). Correlates and consequences of protege mentoring in a large hospital. Group & Organization Management, 19: 219-239.
37.
Kram, K. E. (1980). Mentoring processes at work: Developmental relationships in managerial careers. Doctoral dissertation, Yale University.
38.
Kram, K. E. (1983). Phases of the mentoring relationship. Academy of Management Journal, 26: 608-625.
39.
Kram, K. E. (1985). Mentoring at work. Boston: Scott, Foresman, and Company.
40.
Levinson, E., Darrow, C. D. J., Klein, E. G., Levinson, M., & McKee, B. (1978). The seasons of a man’s life. NY: Alfred Knopf.
41.
Marshall, L. L. (1994). Physical and psychological abuse. In W. R. Cupach & B. H. Spitzberg (Eds.), The dark side of interpersonal communication (pp. 281-311). Hillside, N J: Lawrence Erlbaum.
42.
Merriam, S. (1983). Mentors and proteges: A critical review of the literature. Adult Education Quarterly, 33: 161-173.
43.
Murray, M. (1991). Beyond the myths and magic of mentoring: How to facilitate an effective mentoring program. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
44.
Myers, D. W., & Humphreys, N. J. (1985). The caveats in mentorship. Business Horizons, 28: 9-14.
45.
Natale, S. M., Campana, C., & Sora, S. A. (1988). How envy affects management. Journal of Technology Management, 3: 543-556.
46.
Noe, R. A. (1988a). An investigation of successful assigned mentoring relationships. Personnel Psychology, 41: 457-479.
47.
Noe, R. A. (1988b). Women and mentoring: A review and research agenda. Academy of Management Review, 13: 65-78.
48.
O’Hair, H. D., & Cody, M. J. (1994). Deception. In W. R. Cupach & B. H Spitzberg, The dark side of interpersonal communication. Hillsdale, N J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
49.
Parker, V. A., & Kram, K. E. (1993). Women mentoring women: Creating conditions for connection. Business Horizons, March/April: 42-51.
50.
Ragins, B. R. (1989). Barriers to mentoring: The female manager’s dilemma. Human Relations, 42: 1-22.
51.
Ragins, B. R. (1997). Diversified mentoring relationships in organizations: A power perspective. Academy of Management Review, 22: 482-521.
52.
Ragins, B. R., & Cotton, J. L. (1996). Jumping the hurdles: Barriers to mentoring for women in organizations. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17: 37-41.
53.
Ragins, B. R., & Scandura, T. A. (1994). Gender differences in expected outcomes of mentoring relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 37: 957-971.
54.
Ragins, B. R., & Scandura, T. A. (1997). The way we were: Gender and the termination of mentoring relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82: 945-953.
55.
Reich, M. (1985). The mentor connection. Personnel, 63: 50-56.
56.
Roche, G. R. (1979). Much ado about mentors. Harvard Business Review, 59: 14-18.
57.
Scandura, T. A. (1992a). Mentorship and career mobility: An empirical investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13: 169-174.
58.
Scandura, T. A. (1992b). Mentoring: The key to career success. Chicago, IL: American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants.
59.
Scandura, T. A. (1997). Mentoring and organizational justice: An empirical investigation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51: 58-69.
60.
Scandura, T. A., & Lankau, M. J. (1996). Developing diverse leaders: A leader-member exchange approach. The Leadership Quarterly, 7: 243-263.
61.
Scandura, T. A., & Schriesheim, C. A. (1994). Leader-member exchange (LMX) and Supervisor Career Mentoring (SCM) as complementary constructs in leadership research. Academy of Manageraent Journal, 37: 1588-1602.
62.
Scandura, T. A., & Siegel, P. H. (1995). Mentoring as organizational learning during a corporate merger. Paper presented at the 1995 National Academy of Management meetings, Vancouver, Canada.
63.
Scandura, T. A., Tejeda, M. J., Werther, W. B., & Lankau, M. J. (1996). Perspectives on mentoring. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17: 50-56.
64.
Scandura, T. A., & Viator, R. E. (1994). Mentoring in public accounting firms: An analysis of mentor-protege relationships, mentorship functions and protege turnover intentions. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 19: 717-734.
65.
Shapiro, E. C., Haseltine, F. P., & Rowe, M. P. (1978). Moving up: Role models, mentors and the “patron system”. SIoan Management Review, 19: 51-58.
66.
Shapiro, E. R., & Carr, A. W. (1991). Lost in familiar places. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
67.
Tejeda, M. J. (1994). A knowledge elucidation study of the heuristics used by mentors in the selection of proteges. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Miami.
68.
Tepper, B. J. (1995). Upward maintenance tactics in supervisory mentoring and nonmentoring relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 38: 1191-1205.
69.
Thomas, D. A. (1989). Mentoring and irrationality: The role of racial taboos. Human Resource Management, 28: 279-290.
70.
Thompson, J. (1976). Patrons, rabbis, mentors–whatever you call them, women need them too. MBA, 10: 27-30.
71.
Veale, D. J., & Wachtel, J. M. (1996). Mentoring and coaching as part of a human resource development strategy: An example at Coca-cola foods. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17:16-20.
72.
Westoff, L. A. (1986). Mentor or lover?Working Woman, 11: 16-19.
73.
Whiteley, W., Dougherty, T. W., & Dreher, G. F. (1992). Correlates of career-oriented mentoring for early career managers and professionals. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13: 141-154.
74.
Willbur, J. (1987). Does mentoring breed success?Training and Development, November: 28.
75.
Wilson & Elman. (1990). Organizational benefits of mentoring. Academy of Management Executive, 4: 88-94.
76.
Wiseman, J. P. (1986). Friendship: Bonds and binds in a voluntary relationship. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3: 191-211.
77.
Zey, M. G. (1988.) A mentor for all reasons. Personnel Journal. January: 46-46.
