Process-based perspectives are concerned with how motivation occurs. Rather than attempting to identify specific motivational stimuli such as pay or recognition, process perspectives focus on why people choose certain behavioral options to satisfy their needs and how they evaluate their satisfaction after they have attained these goals. Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated by how much they want something and the likelihood they perceive of getting it. Expectancy theory is a more encompassing model of motivation than equity theory. Over the years since its original formulation, the theory’s scope and complexity have continued to grow.
Victor Vroom is generally credited with first applying the theory to motivation in the workplace. The theory attempts to determine how individuals choose among alternative behaviors. The basic premise of expectancy theory is that motivation depends on how much we want something and how likely we think we are to get it.
Effort-to-performance expectancy is a person’s perception of the probability that effort will lead to successful performance. Performance-to-outcome instrumentality is a person’s perception of the probability that performance will lead to certain other outcomes.
The basic expectancy framework suggests that three conditions must be met before motivated behavior occurs. First, the effort-to-performance expectancy must be well above zero. That is, the worker must reasonably expect that exerting effort will produce high levels of performance. Second, the performance-to-outcome instrumentalities must be well above zero. In other words, the person must believe that performance will realistically result in valued outcomes. Third, the sum of all the valences for the potential outcomes relevant to the person must be positive. One or more valences may be negative as long as the positives outweigh the negatives.
Because expectancy theory is so complex, it is difficult to apply directly in the workplace. A manager would need to figure out what rewards each employee wants and how valuable those rewards are to each person, measure the various expectancies, and finally adjust the relationships to create motivation.
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