Date

4-7-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Matthew Swain

Keywords

mentorship, mentor, mentee, employee well-being, job satisfaction, intent to stay, transformational leadership, transactional leadership

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

Companies are realizing the powerful impacts of mentorship on employee well-being, intent to stay, and job satisfaction. Mentorship typically involves pairing a more experienced employee, commonly called the “mentor,” with a newly hired or junior employee, known as the “mentee.” Mentorship allows employees to professionally develop and grow within the organization while creating a network of trusted advisors. A key component of successful formal mentorship includes leadership style. The current gap in the literature does not fully explore the mentor’s leadership style on employee well-being, job satisfaction, and intent to stay, or the interaction effects between the mentor’s leadership style (transformational or transactional) and mentorship duration. The study confirmed that mentors with a transformational leadership style yielded higher mean scores for the dependent variables (employee well-being, job satisfaction, intent to stay) compared to mentees with a transactional leadership style. The study also confirmed there is a positive correlation between mentorship duration and employee well-being and job satisfaction. Multiple linear regression analysis determined there is no statistically significant interaction between leadership style and mentorship duration on employee well-being, job satisfaction, and intent to stay. This study aimed to help organizational leaders understand the importance of how a mentor’s leadership style influences business outcomes and why duration (time commitment) in a formal mentorship program are keys to a successful formal mentorship program.

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