The effect of multiple mentors on protege attitudes toward the work setting

Review of the literature on mentoring suggests that having multiple mentors may enhance mentoring outcomes. Multivariate analysis of covariance is used to test possible effects of multiple mentors on six attitudinal outcomes - organizational commitment, job satisfaction, career expectations, role conflict, role ambiguity, and perceived employment alternatives - in a sample of 275 executives. Results of this study indicate that experiencing one or more mentoring relationships in the workplace may result in greater organizational commitment, greater job satisfaction, enhanced career expectations, increased perceptions of alternative employment, and lower ambiguity about one's work role. Role conflict may increase as the number of mentors increases beyond one, however. New areas for research suggested by these results are discussed.