Relationship of goal level to valence and instrumentality.

Eight experiments were conducted to explore the relationships between goal level, valence, and instrumentality. Valence, measured in terms of anticipated satisfaction across a range of performance levels, was strongly but negatively related to goal level. This finding was explained by showing that low goals entail using less stringent standards for self-evaluation than do high goals. Instrumentality was positively associated with goal level. Ss believed that trying for hard goals would be more likely to give them a sense of achievement, develop their skills, and prove them competent than would trying for easy goals. Ss also believed that high goals would lead to more practical (job and life) benefits, as well as more pride and self-respect, than would low goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational preferences: Perceptions of valence and instrumentality, and objective data.

Administered a questionnaire to 160 business-major college students to assess perceptions of 5 basic occupations (e.g., sales). Ss designated their most preferred occupation and ranked all 5 occupations in terms of valence and instrumentality for 6 job factors. There was a positive relationship between a direct statement of occupational preference and a Valence * Instrumentality measure of occupational preference. Instrumentality perceptions tended to be objectively based. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of alternative compensation systems on pay valence and instrumentality perceptions.

Tested the hypothesis that the attractiveness of pay (valence) and perceptions about the linkage between performance and pay would be higher among incentive-paid employees than among employees paid by time worked. Results obtained on 273 male and female production employees of a consumer goods firm generally support the hypothesis. Type of pay system accounted for 3% of the variance in valence and for 40% of the variance in instrumentality perceptions after 5 personal variables (pay level, age, sex, marital status, and tenure) were controlled. Implications of the results for designing pay systems and for future research on expectancy theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Between-subjects expectancy theory research: A statistical review of studies predicting effort and performance.

A large number of between-Ss expectancy theory studies have correlated measures of employee motivation (force) to perform with measures of effort and performance. The results of these studies vary considerably. A statistical review of the studies was conducted to determine the extent to which the variance explained (the dependent variable) was a function of various characteristics of the effort and performance and of the force-to-perform measures (the independent variables). There were 160 observations, derived from 32 studies. With the use of multiple regression analysis it was found that variance explained in these studies was greater when (a) self-report or quantitative measures of effort and performance were used rather than evaluations of these variables by someone other than the S; (b) 10–25 outcomes were included in the force measure rather than a greater or smaller number of outcomes; (c) outcome valence was numerically scaled with positive numbers only, and the scale values were described in terms of desirability rather than importance; and (d) the force measure contained either no assessment of expectancy or an assessment that confounded expectancy and instrumentality. These variables accounted for 42% of the variance in the results obtained in the studies reviewed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bonuses, goals, and instrumentality effects.

Three experimental studies showed that bonuses based on end-of-period determinations of standards led to the setting of more challenging goals but lower performance than a control condition in which bonuses were based on the achievement of self-set goals. Performance differences between the bonus and control conditions were not mediated by levels of self-set goals or goal commitment as predicted by goal theory. However, self-set goals and self-efficacy were significant predictors of performance within both the bonus and control conditions. Changes in performance under the end-of-period bonus condition in Study 3 were fully mediated by judgments of instrumentality. Participants in the end-of-period bonus condition were less certain of receiving a bonus, and this negatively affected their performance. Implications for the use of appraisal ratings to allocate bonuses and for the design of bonus schemes for management are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of valence on distance judgments of human faces.

"An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that photographs of positively valent faces would be set nearer the subject than negative faces, in ostensibly objective distance judgments… . Several examples of valent faces were compared, e.g., popular vs. unpopular figures from public life, an authority figure vs. peers, and self vs. peers. The responses of women… bore out the predictions, those of the men did not do so uniformly." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD20B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the measurement of valence perceptions in expectancy theory research.

Recently, students of expectancy theory have begun to urge that the theory be tested as a within-person behavioral choice model. In these discussions, and in the research thus far conducted, it has been assumed that single measures of valence perceptions are adequate, presumably because these perceptions are not expected to vary much (if at all) across behavioral alternatives. This presumption was tested by examining the valence given by 702 male senior US Naval officers to 25 outcomes in 2 contexts: continuing in the active duty role and leaving the Navy to assume an anticipated retirement role. Results show that for most outcomes the ratings of valence perceptions differed across the 2 roles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of positive affect on the components of expectancy motivation.

The influence of positive affect on expectancy motivation was investigated in 2 studies. The results of Study 1 indicated that positive affect improved people's performance and affected their perceptions of expectancy and valence. In Study 1, in which outcomes depended on chance, positive affect did not influence people's perceptions of instrumentality. In Study 2, in which the link between performance and outcomes was specified, positive affect influenced all 3 components of expectancy motivation. Together, the results of Studies 1 and 2 indicated that positive affect interacts with task conditions in influencing motivation and that its influence on motivation occurs not through general effects, such as response bias or general activation, but rather through its influence on the cognitive processes involved in motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of alcohol expectancy priming and mood manipulation on subsequent alcohol consumption.

Studies showing that verbal priming can implicitly affect alcohol consumption have been used to support cognitive models of expectancies. However, because expectancy words reflect affective states as well as drinking outcomes, mediation through an affective pathway remains theoretically plausible (i.e., such words inadvertently may affect mood, which in turn influences drinking). The primary pathway was identified (and expectancy theory was tested) by comparing memory priming (using alcohol expectancy or neutral words) with mood induction (using positive or neutral music); an unrelated experiment paradigm allowed the priming manipulation to implicitly affect drinking. Men in the alcohol priming group drank significantly more than men in each of the other conditions, and, consistent with theory, men with histories of heavier drinking drank the most when primed with alcohol expectancies, indicating that expectancies can function as automatic memory processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of emotional valence on age differences in early processing and memory.

This study examined older and younger adults' attentional biases and subsequent incidental recognition memory for distracting positive, negative, and neutral words. Younger adults were more distracted by negative stimuli than by positive or neutral stimuli, and they correctly recognized more negative than positive words. Older adults, however, attended equally to all stimuli yet showed reliable recognition only for positive words. Thus, although an attentional bias toward negative words carried over into recognition performance for younger adults, older adults' bias appeared to be limited to remembering positive information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of performance expectancy and self-focused attention on social interaction.

Investigated the impact of performance expectancies and self-focused attention on social performance in mixed-sex dyads of 48 undergraduate men with self-reported moderate social anxiety on a modified Social Avoidance and Distress Scale. Ss were divided into 2 groups on the basis of their high or low performance expectancies. Ss were asked to respond to several self-report questionnaires before and after making a telephone call lasting 4–5 min to a female confederate for the purpose of getting acquainted. Results show that half of the Ss in each expectancy group performed in the presence of a self-focusing stimulus (video-camera). When anxiety level was controlled for, focus of attention alone had a very limited effect on performance. Expectancy had a significant influence on social performance, but only if Ss were self-focused. Thus confident Ss were rated by judges as more socially skilled than were doubtful Ss, but only when the camera was present. The interaction between these variables parallels previous research by C. S. Carver et al (see record 1980-32489-001) and Carver and M. F. Scheier (see record 1980-25774-001) and supports the self-regulation model of Carver and Scheier (1983). (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of source credibility attributions on expectancy theory predictions of organizational choice.

A job preview experiment was conducted with 1 between-Ss factor and 1 within-Ss factor. The between-Ss factor was information source in which the 80 female and 54 male 18–48 yr old college students were presented job information from either professional recruiters or job incumbents. The within-Ss factor was information favourability. Each S received 2 previews. One preview contained only positive information about the job, and the other contained some negative information. After exposure to the 2 job previews, Ss completed an expectancy index for each job, a source credibility scale for each preview, and were asked their job choice intentions. Results show that Ss selected the job for which the preview included some negative information more frequently than they did the job for which the preview included only positive information. Both job attractiveness and source credibility were significantly related to job choice. Information source was not related to perceived attractiveness of a job, source credibility, or job choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived similarity and the projection of similarity: The influence of valence.

Some of the implications of Heider's concept of balance were investigated using 104 students as Ss. Based upon their responses to the Revised Allport-Vernon Scale of Values, partially completed test booklets were prepared incorporating different degrees of similarity to each Ss' original answers. The Ss were required to complete them in the way the hypothetical person had. The results confirmed the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of group goals, task component complexity, effort, and planning on group performance.

Tested a model asserting that goal difficulty and task component complexity influence group performance by affecting the effort exerted by group members, the amount and quality of their planning, and the timing of their planning (preplanning vs in-process planning). Hypotheses derived from this model were tested in a 2?×?2 experimental design. 56 groups of 4 students each worked for 15 min building Tinkertoy structures. Results show that group-goal difficulty influenced group performance through effort; task component complexity influenced performance through the amount of planning performed by group members and the level of effort invested in their work; and the quality of the group's planning process also influenced group performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mere effort and stereotype threat performance effects.

Although the fact that stereotype threat impacts performance is well established, the underlying process(es) is(are) not clear. Recently, T. Schmader and M. Johns (2003) argued for a working memory interference account, which proposes that performance suffers because cognitive resources are expended on processing information associated with negative stereotypes. The antisaccade task provides a vehicle to test this account because optimal performance requires working memory resources to inhibit the tendency to look at an irrelevant, peripheral cue (the prepotent response) and to generate volitional saccades to the target. If stereotype threat occupies working memory resources, then the ability to inhibit the prepotent response and to launch volitional saccades will be impaired, and performance will suffer. In contrast, S. Harkins's (2006) mere effort account argues that stereotype threat participants are motivated to perform well, which potentiates the prepotent response, but also leads to efforts to counter this tendency if participants recognize that the response is incorrect, know the correct response, and have the opportunity to make it. Results from 4 experiments support the mere effort but not the working memory interference account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of performance on leadership, cohesiveness, influence, satisfaction, and subsequent performance.

200 management students role played the "Change of Work Procedure" case. Through changes in the foreman's roles, groups were assigned to a high performance, low performance, or control condition. High past performance increased leader supportiveness, interaction facilitation, goal emphasis, and work facilitation behaviors, as well as member influence, group cohesiveness, and satisfaction. Thus, theories of leadership should consider performance as a cause as well as an effect of leader behavior. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of research on expectancy theory predictions of employee performance.

Summarizes formulations of expectancy theory proposed by L. W. Porter and E. E. Lawler in 1968 and by V. H. Vroom in 1964. 9 field studies testing expectancy theory hypotheses using various measures of employee performance as the dependent variable are reviewed. Finally, the studies are evaluated in terms of the number of independent variables used, the measurement of these variables, and the statistical analysis performed. It is shown that the research has generally been inadequate in all 3 respects. Generally, results also show that valence, instrumentality, and role perceptions are significantly related to performance, while ability is not. Suggestions for improvement in expectancy theory research are made. (40 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between measures of effort and job performance.

Effort expended and job performance are considered to be different, although not independent, constructs in the industrial environment. The relationship between these 2 variables was investigated using the multitrait-multimethod and multitrait-multirater approaches. 202 engineers completed self-ratings and were rated by their supervisors (n = 41), using global and dimensional rating methods. Convergent validity was found for the measures of effort and the measures of performance, but only the measures of performance demonstrated discriminant validity when compared with the measures of effort. Raters demonstrated convergent validity for each variable, but only some discriminant validity on the performance measures. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of appropriateness of the dimensional measure of effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy theory predictions of academic effort and performance.

Used expectancy theory models to predict the academic effort and performance of 60 male undergraduates. Rating scales completed by Ss support the theory that effort is related to the degree to which the behavior (or job) is seen as leading to various outcomes weighted (multiplicatively) by the evaluation of these outcomes. The predictability of effort increased when extensions of the effort model were included by adding others' expectations and perceived influence. Ss' self-reports of effort and GPA and college entrance exam records were used to test the job performance model, which suggests that effort and ability combine to predict performance. Neither the additive nor the multiplicative models found support in this setting. The extensions and modifications of the theory are discussed in detail. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of methylphenidate and expectancy on ADHD children's performance, self-evaluations, persistence, and attributions on a cognitive task.

The effects of 0.3 mg/kg methylphenidate (MPH) and expectancy regarding medication on the performance and task persistence of 60 boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were investigated. In a balanced-placebo design, boys in 4 groups (received placebo–drug crossed with told placebo–drug) completed the task in success and failure conditions. Medication improved participants' task persistence following failure. Participants' task performance was not affected by whether they thought they had received medication or placebo. Children made internal attributions for success and made external attributions for failure, regardless of medication or expectancy. These findings confirm previous reports that it is the pharmacological activity of MPH that affects ADHD children's self-evaluations and persistence. The results contradict anecdotal reports that MPH causes dysfunctional attributions and confirm previous studies showing that medication does not produce adverse effects on the causal attributions of children with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)