Does Choice Matter? The Impact Of Allowing Proteges To Select Their Own Mentors

Many organizations currently implement formal mentoring programs to assist newcomers in their adjustment to organizational norms, standards, and culture. However, very few empirically-established guidelines exist for how to effectively match mentors to proteges in formal programs sponsored by organizations. Typically, organizations attempt to match mentors to proteges based on similarity of goals/interests. However, prior research suggests that even mentors and proteges disagree with respect to their perceived similarity. Consequently, it should be difficult for a program administrator to determine which mentors and proteges are likely to be compatible. Recent research has found that proteges who perceived they had input into their match reported higher quality relationships. The present study extended this research by experimentally manipulating protege choice and by investigating potential mechanisms through which choice is expected to influence relationship success. Mentors were undergraduate juniors and seniors and proteges were first-semester freshmen randomly assigned to choose their own mentor or to be matched to a mentor by the program administrator. Participants then met online in a private chat room once per week for a period of four weeks (30 minute sessions). Results indicated that when proteges were given the opportunity to choose their own mentors, both mentors and proteges felt more similar to one another. Additionally, proteges had higher expectations for what they would get out of the relationship and were more proactive in soliciting guidance from their mentors. Finally, each instance of coded psychosocial support demonstrated by a mentor related more positively to proteges\u27 ratings of the support they received if they were in the choice condition. In fact, the relationship between coded psychosocial support and protege ratings of psychosocial support was slightly negative for those who were assigned to a mentor by the researcher. Pre-meeting expectations were found to fully mediate this effect. Finally, protege-reported psychosocial support was positively associated with self-efficacy and negatively related stress after the fourth chat session. In summary, the results of this study strongly suggest that protege involvement in the match process can facilitate the quality of formal mentoring programs

Etiology Beliefs Moderate the Influence of Emotional Self-Control on Willingness to See a Counselor through Help-Seeking Attitudes among Asian American Students

To identify correlates of Asian American professional help-seeking, we tested a mediation model describing Asian American help-seeking (Asian value of emotional self-control → help-seeking attitudes → willingness to see a counselor; Hypothesis 1) in a sample of Asian American college students from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (N = 232). We also examined biological and spiritual etiology beliefs as moderators of the mediation model (Hypotheses 2a & 2b). Our findings indicated that help-seeking attitudes significantly mediated the relation between emotional self-control and willingness to see a counselor, consistent with our mediation hypothesis. Furthermore, biological and spiritual etiology beliefs moderated this mediation model, providing partial support for our moderation hypotheses. Our findings suggest that researchers can contribute to the Asian American literature by investigating conditions in which established Asian American help-seeking models may or may not hold. In addition, the findings suggest additional nuanced ways for counselors to reach out to Asian American students to increase their mental health service utilization

Religious coping moderates the relation between racism and psychological well-being among Christian Asian American college students.

We examined the moderating role of positive and negative religious coping in the relation between racism and psychological well-being in a sample of Catholic and Protestant Asian American college students (N = 107). Based on prior theorizing on the two types of religious coping, combined with some limited empirical evidence, we predicted that positive religious coping would have a buffering effect (Hypothesis 1) on the racism-mental health relation and that negative religious coping would have an exacerbating one (Hypothesis 2). Participants completed an online survey containing measures corresponding to the study variables. Results indicated that the interaction between positive religious coping and racism was nonsignificant (β = .135; p = .280), so Hypothesis 1 was not supported. For Hypothesis 2, the negative religious coping and racism interaction term was statistically significant (β = .240; p = .014), but the moderating effect was in an unexpected direction, so that negative religious coping actually protected against the deleterious impact of racism on mental health. Our findings suggest that the theorized deleterious influence of negative religious coping may need to be reconsidered in an Asian American setting. The findings have the potential to inform practitioners who work with Asian American college students to better cope with the detrimental consequences of racism

Effects of pay transparency on application intentions through justice perceptions and organizational attractiveness

In the current investigation, we test the proposition that applicants make inferences about how an organization treats its employees based on its pay transparency policy. Specifically, we tested a serial mediation model in which pay transparency positively influences applicants’ intentions to apply to a job opening through increased fairness perceptions and organizational attractiveness. We randomly assigned participants to a condition in which they read the profile of a company that implements pay transparency versus a condition in which the company had a policy of pay secrecy. The participants were invited to imagine themselves on the job market and then indicate: (a) the extent to which they felt the company treats its employees fairly, (b) their attraction to the company, and (c) their intent to apply to a position in the company. Results were consistent with the proposed mediation, suggesting that an organization’s pay transparency policy may signal to applicants the extent to which the company values equity and justice. We conclude with some concrete strategies for attracting qualified applicants based on these findings and suggest avenues for future research

Racial Microaggressions, Cultural Mistrust, and Mental Health Outcomes Among Asian American College Students

The present study is an empirical investigation of cultural mistrust as a mediator in the association between racial microaggressions and mental health (anxiety, depression, and well-being) in a sample of Asian American college students. In addition, we explored the role of cultural mistrust as a mediator in the association between racial microaggressions and attitudes toward seeking professional help. Asian American participants (N = 156) were recruited from two institutions located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Participants filled out an online survey consisting of measures assessing the study variables. Bootstrapped results indicated that cultural mistrust was a significant mediator in the relation between microaggressions and well-being, such that racial microaggressions was significantly and positively associated with cultural mistrust, which in turn was significantly and inversely related to well-being. Mediation models involving anxiety, depression, and help-seeking attitudes as outcome variables were nonsignificant. The significant mediation finding (microaggressions → mistrust → well-being) has implications for improved understanding of Asian American students’ reactions to modern day racism and how it relates to their sense of well-being

Emotional Self-Control, Interpersonal Shame, and Racism as Predictors of Help-Seeking Attitudes among Asian Americans: An Application of the Intrapersonal-Interpersonal-Sociocultural Framework

The present study is a cross-sectional investigation of emotional self-control, interpersonal shame, and subtle racism as predictors of Asian American attitudes toward professional help-seeking in a sample of Asian American college students (N = 153). The authors applied and extended P. Y. Kim and Lee’s (2014) intrapersonal-interpersonal framework of Asian American help-seeking to include racism as a sociocultural correlate. It was hypothesized that emotional self-control (intrapersonal correlate), interpersonal shame variables of external shame and family shame (interpersonal correlates), and racism (sociocultural correlate) would incrementally predict professional help-seeking attitudes, controlling for previous counseling experience. Participants completed an online survey containing the demographic and study variables. Hierarchical regression analyses (Step 1: counseling experience; Step 2: emotional self-control; Step 3: interpersonal shame [external and family]; Step 4: racism) indicated that emotional self-control and racism were negative predictors of favorable attitudes, whereas external shame was a positive predictor of favorable help-seeking attitudes. The findings have implications for advancing the Asian American literature pertaining to professional help-seeking correlates and for practitioners working with Asian American students to favorably impact mental health service utilization

Personality, perceived benefits, and willingness to mentor in formal programs

We examined the relationship between perceived benefits and willingness to mentor in a formal program with personality as a moderator. Findings indicated that the relationship was more strongly positive for individuals who demonstrated high levels of conscientiousness and openness than for those with low levels