Note on the utility of certainty weights in expectancy theory.

Tested the usefulness of "certainty of response" as a moderator variable in expectancy models in the context of M. Fishbein's 1967 construct of "attitude toward the act." The direct evaluation of 5 job-seeking behaviors by a racially and socioeconomically heterogeneous sample of 200 18-50 yr old men was predicted from 5 combinations of outcome evaluation, outcome expectancy, and respponse certainty. Contrary to the hypothesis, the simple sum of the evaluations of the outcomes of each behavior best predicted the directly measured evaluation. Results are discussed in terms of possible modifications of the expectancy model and the concept of uncertainty as reflected in subjective probability estimates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)