Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T13:14:52.350Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When Insecure Attachment Dispositions Affect Mentoring Relationship Quality: An Exploration of Interactive Mentoring Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2019

Simon Larose Open the ORCID record for Simon Larose [Opens in a new window] ,
George M. Tarabulsy ,
Geneviève Boisclair-Châteauvert  and
Michael Karcher
Simon Larose*
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
George M. Tarabulsy
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
Geneviève Boisclair-Châteauvert
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
Michael Karcher
Affiliation:
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Simon Larose, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

In this study, we explored the effects of mentor and mentee insecure attachment dispositions (ambivalence and avoidance) on mentoring relationship quality while considering the specific nature of the interactive mentoring context. Participants (N = 252 matches) were enrolled in the MIRES program, a one-year college-based mentoring program that matches late adolescent mentees (17-year-olds) with young adult mentors (23-year-olds), designed to facilitate the transition to college. Using data drawn from mentors’ logbooks (at nine time points), two interactive contexts were addressed: (1) situations involving mentee academic issues and mentor proactive academic support (academically oriented), and (2) situations involving mentee personal issues and mentor emotional support, and caring (emotionally oriented). Linear regression results showed that both mentors’ and mentees’ avoidance uniquely predicted lower reports of mentoring relationship quality, but especially in emotionally oriented matches and when their partners’ attachment ambivalence was high. In matches less focused on emotional support, mentors’ attachment avoidance interacted with mentees’ ambivalence to predict positive mentoring relationship quality. Theoretical, practical, and mentor training issues are discussed.

Keywords

mentoring relationshipinsecure attachmentsocial supportacademic supportcollege student
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 10 , 2019 , e6
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aiken, L.S., & West, S.G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Allen, T.D., Shockley, K.M., & Poteat, L. (2010). Anxiety attachment and feedback in mentoring relationships. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77, 73–80.Google Scholar
Armsden, G.C., & Greenberg, M.T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427–454.Google Scholar
Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L.M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226–244.Google Scholar
Bernier, A., Larose, S. & Soucy, N. (2005). Academic mentoring in college: The interactive role of student's and mentor's interpersonal dispositions. Research in Higher Education, 46, 29–51.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss (vol. 1). New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 664–678.Google Scholar
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S.G., & Aiken, L.S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis in the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: London.Google Scholar
De Jong, M.L. (1992). Attachment, individuation, and risk of suicide in late adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21, 357–373.Google Scholar
DuBois, D.L., Portillo, N., Rhodes, J.E., Silverthorn, N., & Valentine, J.C. (2011). How effective are mentoring programs for youth? A systematic assessment of the evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12, 57–91. doi:10.1177/1529100611414806Google Scholar
Faith, A.M., Fiala, E.S., Cavell, A.T., & Hughes, N.J. (2011). Mentoring highly aggressive children: Pre-post changes in mentors’ attitudes, personality, and attachment tendencies. Journal of Primary Prevention, 32, 253–270. doi:10.1007/s10935-011-0254-8Google Scholar
Feeney, J.A., Noller, P., & Hanrahan, M. (1994). Assessing adult attachment. In Sperling, M.B. & Berman, W.H. (Eds.), Attachment in adults: Clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 128–152). New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Fleming, J.L. (1996). Who are the protégés? The relationship between mentoring experiences, self-efficacy, career salience, attachment style, and eriksonian life stage (doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and theses data base (UMI No. 9631696).Google Scholar
Georgiou, S.N., Demetriou, A.P., & Stavrinides, P. (2008). Attachment style and mentoring relationship in adolescence. Educational Psychology, 28, 603–614.Google Scholar
Gillath, O., Mikulincer, M., Fitzsimons, G.M., Shaver, P.R., Schachner, D.A., & Bargh, J.A. (2006). Automatic activation of attachment-related goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1375–1388.Google Scholar
Gillath, O., & Shaver, P.R. (2007). Effects of attachment style and relationship context on selection among relational strategies. Journal of Research on Personality, 41, 968–976.Google Scholar
Goldner, L. (2015). Mentors’ attachment dimensions, the quality of mentoring relationship and protégés’ adjustment: A moderated mediation model. Child and Family Social Work, 22, 364–377. doi:10.1111/cfs.12249Google Scholar
Goldner, L., & Scharf, M. (2014). Attachment security, the quality of the mentoring relationship and protégés’ adjustment. Journal of Primary Prevention, 35, 267–279. doi:10.1007/s10935-014-0349-0Google Scholar
Gormley, B. (2008). An application of attachment theory: Mentoring relationship dynamics and ethical concerns. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 16, 45–62.Google Scholar
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511–524.Google Scholar
Horvath, A.O., & Greenberg, L.S. (1989). Development and validation of the Working Alliance Inventory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36, 223–233.Google Scholar
Larose, S., Boivin, M., & Doyle, A. (2001). Parental representations and attachment style as predictors of support seeking behaviors and perceptions of support in an academic counseling relationship. Personal Relationships, 8, 93–113.Google Scholar
Larose, S., Bernier, A., & Soucy, N. (2005). Attachment as a moderator of the effect of security in mentoring on subsequent perceptions of mentoring and relationship quality with college teachers. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 399–415.Google Scholar
Larose, S., Bernier, A., Soucy, N., & Duchesne, S. (1999). Attachment style dimensions, network orientation, and the process of seeking help from college teachers. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16, 225–247.Google Scholar
Larose, S., Cyrenne, D., Garceau, O., Harvey, M., Guay, F., Godin, F., Tarabulsy, G.M., & Deschênes, C. (2011). Academic mentoring and dropout prevention for students in math, science and technology. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 19, 419–439.Google Scholar
Larose, S., & Tarabulsy, G. (2014). Academically at-risk students. In DuBois, D.L. & Karcher, M.J. (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (2nd ed., pp. 303–314). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Larose, S., Tarabulsy, G., Harvey, M., Guay, F., Deschênes, C., Cyrenne, D., & Garceau, O. (2012). Impact of a college student academic mentoring program on perceived parental and teacher educational involvement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42, 2137–2162.Google Scholar
Mattanah, J.F., Lopez, F.G., & Govern, J.M. (2011). The contributions of parental attachment bonds to college student development and adjustment: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 565–596.Google Scholar
McWilliams, L. (2018). Relationships between adult attachment dimensions and patient-physician relationship quality. Journal of Relationships Research, 9, e15. doi:10.1017/jrr.2018.13Google Scholar
Pierce, G.R., Sarason, B.R., & Sarason, I.G. (1996). Handbook of social support and the family. New York, NY: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Poteat, L.F., Shockley, K.M., & Allen, T.D. (2015). Attachment anxiety in mentoring: the role of commitment. Career Development International, 20, 119–132.Google Scholar
Randall, A., & Butler, E. (2013). Attachment and emotion transmission within romantic relationships: Merging intrapersonal and interpersonal perspectives. Journal of Relationships Research, 4, e10. doi:10.1017/jrr.2013.10Google Scholar
Rhodes, J.E. (2005). A model of youth mentoring. In DuBois, D.L. & Karcher, M.J. (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (pp. 30–43). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Rom, E., & Mikulincer, M. (2003). Attachment theory and group processes: The association between attachment style and group-related representations, goals, memories, and functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1220–1235.Google Scholar
Roisman, G.I., Holland, A., Fortuna, K., Fraley, R.C., Clausell, E., & Clarke, A. (2007). The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style: An empirical rapprochement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 678–697.Google Scholar
Schindler, I., Fagundes, C.P., & Murdock, K.W. (2010). Predictors of romantic relationship formation: Attachment style, prior relationships, and dating goals. Personal Relationships, 17, 97–105. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01255.xGoogle Scholar
Shaver, P.R., & Mikulincer, M. (2013). Adult attachment strategies and the regulation of emotion. In Gross, James J., Handbook of emotion regulation (2nd ed.., pp. 446–465). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Shepard, J.S. (2004). Multiple ways of knowing: Fostering resiliency through providing opportunities for participating in learning. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 12, 210–216.Google Scholar
Snapp, S., Lento, R., Ryu, E., & Rosen, K.S. (2014). Why do they hook up? Attachment style and motives of college students. Personal Relationships, 21, 468–481.Google Scholar
Tracey, T., & Kokotovic, A. (1989). Factor structure of the Working Alliance Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 1, 207–210.Google Scholar
Wang, S., Noe, R.A., Wang, Z.M., & Greenberger, D.B. (2009). What affects willingness to mentor in the future? An investigation of attachment styles and mentoring experiences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74, 245–256.Google Scholar
Zilberstein, K., & Spencer, R. (2014). Breaking bad: An attachment perspective on youth mentoring relationship closures. Child and Family Social Work, 22, 67–76. doi:10.1111/cfs.12197Google Scholar