Vroom's Expectancy Theory

Vroom's Expectancy Theory explains what motivates individuals to make specific choices. It is built upon three core factors: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.

Expectancy is the belief that increased effort will lead to better performance. Instrumentality is the belief that good performance will result in a valued outcome. Valence is the importance an individual places on the expected outcome.

Vroom's theory concludes that motivation can be calculated by the formula: Motivation = Valence × Instrumentality × Expectancy. The video then provides two situations to illustrate this.

In the first scenario, an employee named Alpita is offered a promotion for successfully completing a project within seven days. She believes her effort will lead to success (expectancy), that success will lead to a reward (instrumentality), and she highly values the promotion (valence). This makes her highly motivated.

The second situation features Mr. Phaethon, who is offered $3,000 for a similar project. However, he doubts his ability to complete the task within the timeframe (low expectancy), questions if the reward will actually be given based on past experience (low instrumentality), and doesn't find $3,000 worth the extensive effort (low valence). Consequently, he is not motivated.

Vroom's Expectancy Theory suggests that if any of the three factors (expectancy, instrumentality, or valence) are perceived to be low, an individual's motivation will also be low.