How the Study Will Work

1. First Questionnaire

• Duration: approx. 20 minutes
• This will form the basis of finding the right match for you

2. Meeting in Person

• Dates: between 8th April and 6th May 2018
• Where and When: to be arranged individually via eMail.
• Duration of meetings: 30 to 60 minutes

3. Second Questionnaire

• Duration: approx. 20 minutes
• To evaluate the meeting
   

Background

We are basing our survey on scientific findings in the areas of mentoring and relational quality. Please read below for a summary of the current scientific findings:

Interpersonal relationships form the basis of our wellbeing, our ability to work under pressure, and our daily learnings. (Roffey, 2012).
Mentoring is cited as an example of a relationship in which an experienced mentor will point to opportunities for learning and offer support and guidance to a less experienced mentee. Research in this area has shown that similarities in personality, values and outlook between mentor and mentee are strongly connected to the success of a mentoring program (Eby et al., 2013; Ghosh, 2014; Menges, 2015). In particular, this will lead to more support for reaching goals (instrumental support), better personal and emotional development (psychosocial support) and improved relational quality. All these three factors in turn are positively linked to the satisfaction rate of the experience. The better the instrumental and psychosocial support, the higher the learning experiences reported.

Other areas of research also point towards the fundamental role that personal similarities between the two parties in a relationship play. When it comes to working relationship between managers and employees, similarities are connected to the relational quality (Bernerth, Armenakis, Feild, Giles, & Walker, 2008). In friendship relationships, the initiation and maintenance of a friendship are associated with the degree of personality similarities of both parties (Harris & Vazire, 2016; Youyou, Stillwell, Schwartz, & Kosinski, 2017). These research findings can be attributed to Byrne’s similarity-attraction paradigm (1971). It argues that people will seem more attractive if they are similar to yourself.

Furthermore, it is not only important that the two parties in a relationship are similar but that they are consciously aware of these similarities. The more similar two people are and the more obvious these similarities are, the higher the level of attraction (Montoya & Horton, 2013). Similarities can, for example, be highlighted by giving people information about the areas where the similarities occur.  

Alongside personality, there are numerous variables that play a part in successful relationships and effective collaborations, such as age, gender, cultural background and professional experiences. It depends on several criteria how dyadic relationships or teams should be composed and which aspects of diversity should be taken into account. At this point, both the role and the aim of the matching are determining factors.