Expectancy, valence, and motivational force functions in goal-setting research: An empirical test.

Abstract

Expectancy-valence (EV) theory has often been used as a model for understanding goal setting. The authors attempt to further distinguish within-person from across-persons uses of EV theory concepts in the goal-setting literature and present a within-person empirical test. The key element of the approach examined here is that an assigned goal's initial effect is on the patterns formed across levels of potential task performance by a person's judgments of expectancy, valence, and motivational force (i.e., performance-expectancy, performance-valence, and performance-motivational force functions). By examining these functions, the authors make available more detailed information regarding the motivational effects of assigned goals