Expectancy-Value Models in Organizational Psychology

Abstract

Expectancy theory’s first major appearance in the organizational psychology literature was presented in 1964 in Vic Vroom’s book, Work and Motivation. Building on some earlier work by Georgopoulous, Mahoney and Jones, Vroom described expectancy type models for the prediction of occupational choice, effort on the job, and job satisfaction. These writings have had a substantial impact on the field of organizational psychology and expectancy theory remains as one of the two or three most heavily researched theories of motivation. In this chapter, the author aims to use a format that first briefly summarizes the topic as of that 1974 paper and then discusses what has been accomplished since that time. Using this procedure, the theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues that have been resolved and unresolved are highlighted. Finally, the chapter presents a number of new topics that were unanticipated in the 1974 paper and that are currently important.