Creative, Intellectual, and Psychosocial Development through Mentorship

Abstract

The intricate relationship of mentor and protégé serves as personal guide for extraordinary creative development and self-actualization. This article presents a developmental theory of mentoring in which we propose that, while enhancing extraordinary creative and intellectual growth, mentoring also facilitates the task accomplishment uniquely characteristic of early life stages. We describe how different levels of mentors working with youthful protégés facilitate this critical developmental process and explore implications of this theory in bringing about a dynamic synergism between creativity, intellectual accomplishment, and individual independence and autonomy.