An empirical investigation of the motivational determinants of task performance: Interactive effects between instrumentality—valence and motivation—ability

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Abstract

The present study was designed to operationalize and test two components of a motivational model thought to be useful in the explanation of productivity variations among operative workers. Vroom (1964) has suggested that performance can be thought of as a multiplicative function of motivation and ability [p = f(M · A)]. Motivation to perform a task can be postulated to vary with the valences (V) of outcomes associated with the performance of that task and the instrumentality (I) of performance for attainment of these desirable outcomes or for avoidance of undesirable outcomes. Thirty-two operative workers completed questionnaires designed to operationalize the concepts of valence and instrumentality and to test the interactive effects of V and I as well as M and A. A modified analysis of variance procedure, utilizing a “dummy variable” technique and stepwise multiple regression procedure, yielded support for the hypothesized interactive effects. Results are interpreted in terms of the Vroom model as well as other recent research yielding M · A effects.

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The authors wish to thank Professor V. H. Vroom of Carnegie Institute of Technology for helpful comments on an earlier draft and Gordon Kaufman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology for helpful comments on the statistical section.

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