What is the Expectancy Theory?
Expectancy theory posits that individuals choose to engage in certain behaviors based on the expected outcomes. According to this theory, the decision to act in a particular way is influenced by the anticipated rewards and the belief that the behavior will lead to the desired result. Developed by Victor Vroom, this theory highlights three key components: expectancy (belief that effort leads to performance), instrumentality (belief that performance leads to rewards), and valence (value placed on the rewards).
The Basic Idea
When people ask me how I spent last summer, I tell them that I studied for the LSAT from May through August. This typically results in musings of how terrible it must have been and questions of how I motivated myself. While studying for the test was a stressful experience, it was nowhere close to being terrible. I was motivated to study because I knew that it would be a valuable step toward my larger goal, which was getting into law school. I expected that increasing my efforts to study would increase my chances of a high score, which I believed would help me achieve my overall goal.
My experience was one that followed expectancy theory, which assumes that people are motivated to engage in certain behaviors because of their expected outcomes.1 Thus, the values associated with said outcomes are the discerning factors for choosing one behavior over another. Expectancy theory separates the decision making process into expectancy (efforts will lead to high performance), instrumentality (performance will lead to predicted outcomes), and valence (predicted outcomes are desirable).
Motivation depends on how much we want something and how likely we think we are to get it.
– Victor Vroom, pioneer of the expectancy theory of motivation
