A Policy-Capturing Investigation of Expectancy Theory Models of Valence and Force

摘要

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the valence and force models of Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation. In particular, this study was designed to (1) use policy capturing to test the valence model and determine if knowledge of second-level valences increases one's ability to predict first-level valence; (2) test the force model at three levels of expectancy, 0, 0.4, and 0.8, to determine whether the function associated with expectancy has a binary (0 or 1) rather than a continuous nature; and (3) investigate te correlation between force and locus of control. (If expectancy has a binary nature, when expectancy is zero, force is zero; when expectancy is greater than zero, force is equal to first-level valence.) One hundred fifteen Air Force Institute of Technology graduate students participated in the study. Three types of instruments were used to collect data from five different groups. All five groups received instruments related to job choice or job satisfaction; one group also received a student effort instrument. Each instrument was designed to capture valence and effort decision in 24 different situations.