A Policy-Capturing Investigation of the Role of Expectancies in Decisions to Pursue Job Alternatives

Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory of motivation proposes that motivation is a function of expectation of a reward for a particular action times the valence, or attractiveness, of the reward. Research has failed to produce consistent support for the multiplicative expectancy-valence theory of motivation. The predictive validity of expectancy theory in the job choice context is examined. Ten randomly selected subjects were asked to rank the attractiveness of a series of possible jobs, and to indicate their probabilities of pursuing the jobs on the basis of 3 levels of expectancy for being offered the jobs. Policy capturing and narrative self-report techniques were used to analyze the ways subjects combined job expectancy-valence attributes in making their decisions. Expectancy was found to vary widely in the degree to which it influenced individual job pursuit decisions. The degree to which low expectancy discouraged job pursuit was a function of the cost of job search and the attractiveness of the job.