Dispositional traits influence on mentoring relationships : A revisit to the Big Five personality model in the Indian context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of personality factors in influencing mentoring relationships in the South-Asian context. Design/methodology/approach The sample included 363 subjects from public and private sector organizations in North India. Findings Results revealed that in the Indian context, conscientiousness acts as significant predictor of perceived psychosocial mentoring, agreeableness acts as significant predictor of perceived career mentoring support, and emotional stability acts as significant predictor of both categories of mentoring relationships. Further, managers employed in public sector organizations were found to be high on all the Big Five personality factors and mentoring functions in contrast to managers from private sector organizations. Research limitations/implications Overall, the results suggest that mentoring relationships should operate in organizations with a firm understanding of employees’ personality traits. Implications and future research directions were also discussed. Further, suggestions have also been given for incorporating various interventions in order to handle employees with different personality attributes such as counseling for helping emotionally unstable employees manage their emotions and stress. Originality/value To the knowledge, this is the first study that seeks to examine impact of personality factors on mentoring relationships in the South-Asian context.