The subject of work-based relationships as a source of support, feedback and development has centrality in much of the research into management development. Specifically, work dealing with manager/subordinate and peer relationships, as well as more formally defined developmental relationships such as that of the mentor, coach or counsellor, are of interest to the management researcher. This article examines the concept of psychological similarity through shared meanings, in relation to the maintenance and development of self-efficacy beliefs. This examination is carried out through comparative case studies in two very different organizational settings; the corporate and the not-for-profit sector. It was found that in work-based relationships in which the parties are psychologically similar, such relationships are more likely to support the maintenance and development of self-efficacy beliefs.
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