The positive psychology of mentoring: A longitudinal analysis of psychological capital development and performance in a formal mentoring program

AuthorJustin W. Carter,Carolyn M. Youssef‐Morgan
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21348
Date01 September 2019
Published date01 September 2019
QUANTITATIVE STUDY
The positive psychology of mentoring: A
longitudinal analysis of psychological capital
development and performance in a formal
mentoring program
Justin W. Carter
1
| Carolyn M. Youssef-Morgan
2
1
College of Business, University of North
Alabama, Florence, Alabama
2
College of Business, Bellevue University,
Bellevue, Nebraska
Correspondence
Justin W. Carter, College of Business,
University of North Alabama, 1 Harrison Plaza,
Florence, AL 35632.
Email: jwcarter@una.edu
Although there is substantial support for the relationship between
mentoring and workperformance, empirical research has yet to fully
explore the plausible positive psychological explanatory mechanisms
of this relationship. This four-year study examines the effects of
mentoring on protégés' psychological capital (PsyCap; a higher-order
psychological resource that includes hope, efficacy, resilience, and
optimism) and performance outcomes (formal performance
appraisals) over time, in the context of an existing formal organiza-
tional mentoring program. PsyCap is examined as a mediator in the
relationshipbetween mentoringand performance. Utilizing115 men-
tor-protégé pairs, results support the effectiveness of the mentoring
program in developing PsyCap and enhancing performance 1 year
later in three cohorts of protégés, even after controlling for pre-
program performance. Furthermore, PsyCap is supported as a full
mediator between mentoring and performance. This is the first
empirical studyto explore this relationship, and oneof the few men-
toring studiesto collect data over multiple time periods.
KEYWORDS
mentoring, organizational performance, performance
management, psychological capital, talent development
1|INTRODUCTION
Chalofsky (2007) argued that the field of human resource development (HRD) is based in practice and focuses on improving
activities that lead to higher performance. Mentoring is an important form of HRD (Thurston, D'Abate, & Eddy, 2012) that
involves a dyadic relationship in which a more knowledgeable or experienced mentor shares and disseminates this wisdom
to a less knowledgeable or experienced protégé (Bozeman & Feeney, 2007). Many researchers argue that the primary pur-
pose of mentoring is success in the workplace (Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima, 2004; Godshalk & Sosik, 2003; Kram, 1988;
DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21348
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Human Resource Development Quarterly. 2019;30:383405. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrdq 383
Ragins, 1989; Tepper, 1995; Zey, 1984), and there is a growing body of support, in theory and practice, for the positive rela-
tionship between mentoring and performance (Dreher & Ash, 1990; Scandura, 1992; Scandura & Hamilton, 2002;
Srivastava & Jomon, 2013). As the field of mentoring continues to mature, there is a need for more research on formal men-
toring through the lens of HRD (Hezlett & Gibson, 2005), with an emphasis on understanding the mechanisms that ac count
for the benefits and effectiveness of mentoring (Egan & Song, 2008).
Without a clear understanding of how mentoring operates and why the benefits take place, it is unclear how mentoring
can be improved so that these positive outcomes can be consistently realized and replicated. However, most empirical
research on mentoring examines the career benefits protégés experience (Allen et al., 2004), and primarily compares mentored
to nonmentored groups (Eby et al., 2013). A smaller portion of this research examines the quality of mentoring received
(Aryee, Wyatt, & Stone, 1996; Seibert, Kraimer, & Liden, 2001; Turban& Dougherty, 1994). Additionally, the majority of stud-
ies use cross-sectional designs to explore the relationship (Allen et al., 2008), limiting the causal inferences that can be made.
Longitudinal and experimental research is needed to fully understand the dynamic nature of mentoring an d performance, as
well as the causal mechanisms through which mentoring influences performance over time.
In addition, mentoring is often examined for its career and psychosocial functions (Kram, 1988), with very little
focus on the psychological resources developed. While these career and psychosocial functions are valuable and
important, the emphasis of research and practice tends to be on the social (e.g., socialization, relationships, expanding
networks, see Higgins & Kram, 2001) and professional benefits of mentoring (Allen et al., 2004; Godshalk & Sosik,
2003; Scandura, 1992; Thurston et al., 2012). However, exploration of the mechanisms through which mentoring
develops personal psychological resources and promotes intentional individual actions that can lead to protégés' per-
formance improvement is limited (for notable exceptions, see Hegstad & Wentling, 2005; Pan, Sun, & Chow, 2011).
Positive organizational behavior (POB) offers a new perspective for organizational research (Cameron, Dutton,
Quinn, & Wrzesniewski, 2003; Luthans & Avolio, 2009). POB is defined as the study and application of positively
oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively
managed for performance improvement(Luthans, 2002a, p. 59). Luthans (2002b) identified four psychological
resources that met the POB inclusion criteria of being theory-based, measurable, developmental, and related to per-
formance. These resources are hope, self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience. Although each of the four resources has
been independently shown to impact performance, Luthans, Avolio, Avey, and Norman (2007) showed that together
they form the higher-order construct psychological capital (PsyCap) that is a stronger predictor of performance than
any of its four constituent psychological resources individually. Although work performance is the most researched
outcome of PsyCap (Avey, Reichard, Luthans, & Mhatre, 2011), PsyCap remains under-represented in HRD research
(Luthans, 2012), and has yet to be introduced to the mentoring literature.
To address these gaps in the literature, this study examines PsyCap, a multidimensional positive psychological
resource that includes hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism, as a mediator of the relationship between the quality
of mentoring received in a real organizational formal mentoring program, and employee performance. Utilizing a lon-
gitudinal, experimental, pre-post group design, and drawing from social exchange theory and resource theories, this
is the first study to apply a positive psychological perspective to the relationship between mentoring and perfor-
mance. It is also one of the few mentoring studies to collect data over multiple protégé cohorts and time periods. As
more HRD professionals integrate mentoring into their development strategy, more could be known about how and
why mentoring impacts employee performance.
2|MENTORING
Mentoring is defined as
a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and psycho-social support per-
ceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career or professional development; mentoring entails
384 CARTER AND YOUSSEF-MORGAN

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