Motives to mentor: Self-focused, protégé-focused, relationship-focused, organization-focused, and unfocused motives

Article history: Received 5 May 2014 This study examines the motives mentors have for providing developmental support to their protégés. Based on qualitative interviewswith 20 informalmentors, we show five broad categories of mentor motives: self-focused motives (based on individual reasons), protégé-focused motives (directed at the protégé), relationship-focused motives (directed at the relationship between the mentor and the protégé), organization-focused motives (benefiting the organization), and unfocused motives (mentoring as the result of unconscious information processing). Furthermore, based on self-determination theory, we show five subcategories of self-focused motives, ranging from extrinsic motivations to intrinsic motivations. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are presented. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.