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Vroom Expectancy Theory There are some theories that suggest motivation is thoughtful and rational decision-like process. One of the major theories from this type of approach is expectancy theory (e.g., Vroom, 1964). Expectancy theory basically says that people choose their behaviors based on the subjective estimation that such behaviors lead to the valued outcomes. Vroom's valence-instrumentality-expectancy theory (VIE theory) states that there are three main components that affect human motivation. Valence is the degree in which the outcome the person will have is valuable for him/her. Instrumentality represents the degree in which the first outcome (e.g., performance) leads to the final valued outcome. Expectancy refers to the subjective probability that a certain effort or behavior leads to the first outcome or performance. VIE theory suggests that the multipricative function of valence, instrumentality and expectancy represents motivational force, which predicts a person's choice (e.g., goal choice). As described above, expectancy theory is a very rational approach to motivation. The strength of this approach is that it predicts a person's choice (e.g., such as occupational choice) well and is predictive if the task is fairly simple and easy for the estimation of VIE. However, the weakness of this theory is that its predictive power might be low for complex tasks, uncertain environment, and so on. Meta-analysis shows that the multiplied VIE factors doesn't explain human motivation better than each independent component alone (VanElde & Thealy, 1996). Goal setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990) also includes some thoughtful, rational process of motivation. The major finding of goal setting research is that difficult, specific goals lead to high performance. Mitchell et al. (2000) suggest that there are direct and indirect effects of goal setting. Direct effect of goal setting is that goals stimulate arousal, attention and direction, and intensity and persistence. This might rather automatic process than thoughtful process. Indirect effects of goal setting is that goals increase task strategies if there are enough time, tools, alternatives, etc. The indirect effect of goal setting become more important as task complexity increases (e.g., Wood & Locke, 1990). This indirect effect of goal setting can be said as thoughtful process That is, people will carefully analyze goals, current situations, and alternatives, then they will develop effective task strategies that increase the probability of goal attainment. Self-efficacy (e.g., Gist & Mitchell, 1992) also includes thoughtful, rational process in estimating how people can perform well in a specific task, although the estimation might be influenced by affect and other non-rational factors. Recent trend is that expectancy theory, goal setting theory and theory of self-efficacy (e.g., Gist & Mitchell, 1992) are integrated into the theory of self-regulation, in which self-efficacy or effort-performance expectancy predicts goal choice, which in tern predicts performance.
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