Questions: Work Motivation Theories

Question 1

According to expectancy theory, an employee who believes their effort will lead to good performance (high expectancy) but doubts that good performance will be rewarded (low instrumentality) is predicted to have...

• A. High motivation because expectancy is the only factor that matters
• B. Low motivation because the three components multiply — a near-zero instrumentality drives overall motivation toward zero
• C. Moderate motivation because the high expectancy partially compensates for low instrumentality
• D. No prediction is possible because expectancy theory does not address instrumentality

Answer: (B)

Expectancy theory is multiplicative: Motivation = Expectancy × Instrumentality × Valence. If any component is near zero, overall motivation is near zero regardless of the other components. An employee who can perform well (high E) but sees no connection between performance and rewards (low I) has little reason to exert effort. This explains why high performers sometimes disengage — they can do the work but see no point if performance is not meaningfully rewarded.

Question 2

Goal-setting theory predicts that 'do your best' goals produce the same performance as specific, difficult goals.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

'Do your best' goals are effectively no goals at all because they provide no standard against which to evaluate progress. Locke and Latham's research across hundreds of studies shows that specific, difficult goals consistently outperform 'do your best' instructions by 10-25%. Specific goals direct attention, energize effort, encourage persistence, and stimulate strategy development. The key boundary conditions are goal commitment, feedback, and task complexity — for very complex tasks, learning goals outperform performance goals.

Question 3

How does equity theory explain why an employee who receives a raise might still become less motivated?

Model answer: Equity theory (Adams) holds that employees compare their input-to-outcome ratio with the ratios of referent others. If an employee receives a raise but learns that a peer doing similar work received a larger raise, the employee perceives inequity — their ratio is unfavorable compared to the referent. This perceived underpayment inequity produces tension that motivates restoration behaviors: reduced effort, demands for more pay, cognitive distortion, or exit.

The key insight is that motivation depends on perceived fairness of relative outcomes, not absolute outcomes. An employee earning $80,000 may be more motivated than one earning $100,000 if the former perceives equity and the latter perceives underpayment relative to comparable others. This explains the common observation that pay raises can backfire when they reveal or create inequities.