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“It is OK to let them know you are human too”: Mentor self‐disclosure in formal youth mentoring relationships
Author(s) -
Dutton Hilary,
Bullen Pat,
Deane Kelsey L.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22165
Subject(s) - self disclosure , closeness , psychology , intervention (counseling) , interpersonal communication , interpersonal relationship , normative , social psychology , medical education , medicine , mathematical analysis , philosophy , mathematics , epistemology , psychiatry
This study aims to capture descriptive data on how mentors self‐disclose to their adolescent mentees. Self‐disclosure is a normative communication process that facilitates trust and closeness in interpersonal relationships. Despite being a relational intervention, little is known about self‐disclosure in youth‐mentoring relationships. A total of 54 mentors from 2 community‐based mentoring programs in Auckland, New Zealand, participated in this mixed‐methods study about their experiences of disclosing to mentees via an online questionnaire. In this sample, mentors disclosed about various topics, including hobbies, school and work, health, beliefs, self‐esteem, substance use, emotions, sex, and money. Qualitative analysis identified themes regarding how mentors self‐disclose, disclosure influencing positive relationship characteristics, the influence of mentoring programs, challenges with mentee interest and culture clashes, and the perceived effect of self‐disclosure on mentees and the mentoring relationship. These mentors disclosed broadly and viewed generally self‐disclosure in a positive way, but they also experienced challenges and complexities.