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Organizational Behavior

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS, AND ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 1, 2011

Expectancy Theory of Motivation:
Motivating by Altering Expectations

Fred C. Lunenburg
Sam Houston State University
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ABSTRACT
Vroom’s expectancy theory differs from the content theories of Maslow, Alderfer,
Herzberg, and McClelland in that Vroom’s expectancy theory does not provide specific suggestions on what motivates organization members. Instead, Vroom’s theory provides a process of cognitive variables that reflects individual differences in work motivation.
From a management standpoint, the expectancy theory has some important implications for motivating …show more content…

If there is no perceived relationship between a good performance rating and a salary increase, then the instrumentality is 0.

FRED C. LUNENBURG
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Valence
Valence is the strength of an employee’s preference for a particular reward. Thus, salary increases, promotion, peer acceptance, recognition by supervisors, or any other reward might have more or less value to individual employees. Unlike expectancy and instrumentality, valences can be either positive or negative. If an employee has a strong preference for attaining a reward, valence is positive. At the other extreme, valence is negative. And if an employee is indifferent to a reward, valence is 0. The total range is from -1 to +1. Theoretically, a reward has a valence because it is related to an employee’s needs. Valence, then, provides a link to the need theories of motivation (Alderfer,
Herzberg, Maslow, and McClelland).
Vroom suggests that motivation, expectancy, instrumentality, and valence are related to one another by the equation
Motivation = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence.
The multiplier effect in the equation is significant. It means that higher levels of motivation will result when expectancy, instrumentality, and valence are all high than when they are all low. The multiplier assumption

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