Mentoring rozwojowy jako przykład komplementarności międzypokoleniowej

The article is an attempt to analyse informal mentoring and its double-subjective effects with regard to psychosocial development of both the mentor and the mentee. Mentoring is described here compared with other commonly used concepts of interpersonal interactions such as tutoring and coaching. The author defines mentoring as a specific interpersonal relationship, asymmetric by nature, usually dyadic, where the mentor inspires the mentee to achieve maturity in self-discovery and making life decisions. Being a mentor is one of the most important roles of middle adulthood considering the developmental needs. For young adults, in turn, the relationship with a mentor may support them in fulfilling their developmental tasks. These observations lead to the conclusion that intergenerational complementarity constitutes one of the main features of developmental mentoring.