Expectancy Theory

Expectancy theory proposes that an individual will behave or act in a certain way because they are motivated to select a specific behavior over others due to what they expect the result of that behavior will be, with the desirability of the outcome determining the motivation of the selection. First proposed by Victor Vroom of the Yale School of Management in 1964, it aims to explain the processes an individual undergoes to make choices, stressing the need for organizations to relate rewards directly to performance and to ensure the rewards provided are deserved and wanted by recipients. Vroom held motivation to be a product of an individual's expectancy that effort will lead to intended performance, the instrumentality of that performance toward a certain result, and the desirability of that result, known as valence. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/