Naturally occurring mentoring in Japan and the United States: social roles and correlates.

Full Abstract

Although the word "mentor"has traditionally been used to describe a relationship between an older adult and a younger person, recent work has extended its usage to relationships with peers and groups rather than with individuals and uncoupled the instrumental and affective qualities of the role. This paper examines (a) the extent to which adolescents' relationships with significant others in different social roles are characterized by mentoring and (b) the extent to which mentoring and other relationship functions covary. Adolescents' naturally occurring social relationships are explored in two very different contexts-Japan and the United States-that differ in the norms and patterning of social interactions. College students (N = 365) used questionnaires to describe the extent to which relations with significant others were characterized by mentoring. Results indicate striking similarity in the patterning of results in the two countries and support the traditional view of mentoring. Mentoring is most likely to occur in relationships with adults (especially parents), rather than with peers, and with same-gender, rather than other-gender associates. Mentoring by parents appears to covary with other aspects of positive relationships, but be more independent in relationships with unrelated adults or peers. Although more of the variability in experienced mentoring is attributed to differences between associates than to differences between adolescents in both the United States and Japan, this is especially true of the United States. Results suggest that although "classic" mentoring is most common in both countries, mentoring is somewhat less constrained by social role differences in Japan than is in the United States.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Darling, Nancy (N); Hamilton, Stephen (S); Toyokawa, Teru (T); Matsuda, Sei (S);

Affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA. ndarling(-atsign-)psu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Evaluation Studies; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: American journal of community psychology (Am J Community Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Apr; vol 30 (issue 2) : pp 245-70

Dates: Created 2002/05/10; Completed 2002/09/17; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12002245, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - ethnology; psychology
Adult
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Cultural Characteristics
Female
Humans
Intergenerational Relations - ethnology
Interpersonal Relations
Japan
Male

Male
Mentors - psychology
Parents - psychology
Peer Group
Program Evaluation
Questionnaires
Role
Socialization
Students - psychology
United States
Universities

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.