An investigation of self-efficacy crossover between mentors and protégés within mentoring dyads

Our current research investigated how mentors enhance protégé self-efficacy. Drawing from social comparison theory, we propose that the shared experience between mentors and protégés facilitates the ability of protégés to adopt the perspective of their mentors. Additionally, the perspective-taking that a protégé engages in enables them to ascribe positive aspects of their mentor (i.e., efficacious beliefs) to themselves. Study 1 (N = 205 adults) and study 2 (N = 204 adults) adopted an experimental design (i.e., vignette study) and study 3 (N = 148 undergraduate management students) adopted a survey design with protégés in an e-mentoring program. Results from all three studies provided evidence for the transfer of efficacy beliefs from the mentor to the protégé. The findings supported the postulation that shared experience between the protégé and mentor facilitates perspective-taking on behalf of the protégé. Although the findings of the experimental studies showed that a protégé's perspective-taking moderated the positive transfer of efficacy beliefs from the mentor to the protégé, the field study failed to replicate this particular finding. Our current research findings have implications for training and developing employees.