Expectancy: Why Business and Personal Interactions Fail

Why do some people fail to cooperate, either in business or life? Why do deals and commitments fall through? Why do partners or lovers stop working together?

These are fundamental problems in all of our lives. Fortunately, they all have a fairly simple answer, involving the basics of motivation and expectation. So, let's take a look!

Expectancy Theory

The questions above (particularly regarding the workplace) were explored by Victor Vroom, in his 1964 book, Work and Motivation. He was interested in identifying the basic dynamics of what motivated people to work together—or decide to end an interaction instead. The result was a model known as Expectancy Theory (sometimes called VIE Theory), with three components:

• Valence: This concept is an evaluation of motivation. It assesses how much an individual is attracted to and desires a particular outcome. Essentially, it asks How much do you want the thing(s) an organization or partner can give you?
• Instrumentality: This concept is a general assessment of fairness in a situation or relationship. It evaluates how much an individual trusts that their performance will be rewarded, by the organization or partner, with the desired outcome. In short, it considers If I do what they want, will they really give me what I want in return?
• Expectancy: Finally, this concept is an appraisal of the individual's own ability. It measures an individual's level of confidence about whether their own actions will lead to the required level of performance. In other words, it questions Do I have the ability to do what they want or not?

Thirty-two years later, a meta-analysis by Van Eerde and Thierry (1996) evaluated the relationship of those three components to various workplace outcomes. Specifically, they explored how each of the VIE components correlated with employee performance, effort, intention, preference, and choice. Overall, all three components had at least some correlation with all five workplace variables—with some having stronger relationships than others.

Specifically, although Van Eerde and Thierry were unable to assess significant differences between correlations, a potential pattern can be observed by visual inspection. Effort and time spent on a job were more related to valence (.34) than instrumentality (.24) or expectancy (.26). In contrast, the choice to remain or leave a job in general was more related to expectancy (.38) than valence (.27) or instrumentality (.27). Finally, preference for a particular job or organization had the highest correlation with instrumentality (.71), although the data didn't allow for complete correlations with valence or expectancy here.

Interaction Failure and Success

Given those results, we can begin to see how work and personal relationships either succeed or fail. Success comes when people desire something from one another, can trust each other, and can also trust themselves to hold up their own end of the bargain. Relationships fail when an individual no longer wants something from a partner or organization, can't trust them, or can't trust their own ability. Therefore, to create successful interactions (and avoid failure), let's look at each of those pieces in a bit more detail.

Valence: When you want an interaction to succeed or a relationship to develop, you first need to have something that a partner or organization wants. They need to have something you want, too. That is the essential feature that motivates the exchange.

As noted above, that valence is what makes people put the time and effort into the job, role, or friendship. So, you can also think of it as the reward or reinforcement that drives behavior, too. Therefore, the important consideration regarding success or failure around valence is How can you (and they) make the interaction more rewarding?

Instrumentality: Once both sides have something each other wants, the next consideration is establishing enough interpersonal trust to trade with one another. This trust is a big part of why we prefer one partner or organization over another. It is also a factor in why we cooperate rather than compete with a partner.

Nevertheless, it is not always easy to trust someone to give us what we have earned—or to hold up their end of a bargain. That trust can be even harder to establish when there is a difference in power between the two parties involved. Thus, the essential consideration around instrumentality is How can you (and they) align interests to establish trust and cooperation? Furthermore, Do you (and they) have a good reputation for cooperating in the past, too?

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Expectancy: Finally, for an interaction to succeed, you also need to trust yourself. If you can't expect yourself to hold up your end of the bargain, then you can't get the reward or outcome you want, either. Thus, if you have no expectation for success, it is difficult to commit to a job or relationship.

Unfortunately, when someone can't trust themselves (or others) to meet a required standard, they can become tempted to manipulate or control others instead. In their insecurity and distrust, they may even choose to use tactics and types of power that hurt others. They do so out of fear, to get what they want, without holding up their end of the bargain, or being courageous and trusting a partner, too. Thus, the central question of expectancy is Do I (and my partner) have the knowledge, skill, and ability to meet the requirements of this relationship—and can we trust ourselves to do it?

Overall, it becomes clearer how valence, instrumentality, and expectancy are necessary, on both sides of an interaction, to help it succeed. Whether at work or home, both parties need to bring something desirable to the table. Then, they need to trust each other and themselves to trade fairly and honestly. If those standards can't be met, then relationships can become toxic and manipulative—and ultimately fail. If a rewarding and trusting relationship can develop, however, then it can be one of the most satisfying connections that someone can experience in life.

© 2024 by Jeremy S. Nicholson, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D. All rights reserved.