My mentor, myself

Abstract

This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of perceived similarity in mentoring relationships in a sample of 82 matched mentor-protégé dyads. Polynomial regression analyses indicated that mentor-protégé similarity attachment security was marginally associated with protégé perceptions of similarity to mentors, such that protégé perceptions of similarity to mentors were highest when mentors and protégés were similarly high or similarly low in attachment security. There were no effects of similarity in relational self-construal on perceived similarity. Path analyses indicated that perceived similarity was positively associated with protégés’ organizational and professional commitment, and these associations were fully mediated by relational identification. These findings suggest that the effects of actual personality similarity on perceptions of similarity may depend on the similar trait, and provide further evidence of the importance of perceived similarity to not only mentoring relationships, but also to organizations and professional bodies.