Reinforcement Theory & Expectancy Theory

Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF Skinner and his associates. It states that individual’s behavior is
a function of its consequences. It is based on “law of effect”, i.e, individual’s behavior with positive consequences tends
to be repeated, but individual’s behavior with negative consequences tends not to be repeated.

Reinforcement theory of motivation overlooks the internal state of individual, i.e., the inner feelings and drives of
individuals are ignored by Skinner. This theory focuses totally on what happens to an individual when he takes some
action. Thus, according to Skinner, the external environment of the organization must be designed effectively and
positively so as to motivate the employee. This theory is a strong tool for analyzing controlling mechanism for
individual’s behaviour. However, it does not focus on the causes of individual’s behaviour. Types of Reinforcement •

Positive Reinforcement- This implies giving a positive response when an individual shows positive and required
behaviour. For example - Immediately praising an employee for coming early for job. This will increase probability of
outstanding behaviour occurring again. Reward is a positive reinforce. Positive reinforcement stimulates occurrence of a
behaviour. It must be noted that more spontaneous is the giving of reward, the greater reinforcement value it has

Negative Reinforcement- This implies rewarding an employee by removing negative / undesirable consequences. Both
positive and negative reinforcement can be used for increasing desirable / required behavior.

• Punishment- It implies removing positive consequences so as to lower the probability of repeating undesirable
behavior in future. In other words, punishment means applying undesirable consequence for showing undesirable
behavior. For instance - Suspending an employee for breaking the organizational rules. Punishment can be equalized by
positive reinforcement from alternative source.

• Extinction- It implies absence of reinforcements. In other words, extinction implies lowering the probability of
undesired behavior by removing reward for that kind of behavior. For instance - if an employee no longer receives praise
and admiration for his good work, he may feel that his behavior is generating no fruitful consequence. Extinction may
unintentionally lower desirable behavior

Implications of Reinforcement Theory

• Reinforcement theory explains in detail how an individual learns behavior. Managers who are making attempt to
motivate the employees must ensure that they do not reward all employees simultaneously. They must tell the
employees what they are not doing correct. They must tell the employees how they can achieve positive reinforcement.
Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

• It assumes that behavior results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose is to maximize pleasure
and to minimize pain. Vroom realized that an employee’s performance is based on individual factors such as personality,
skills, knowledge, experience and abilities. He stated that effort, performance and motivation are linked in a person’s
motivation. He uses the variables Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence to account for this.

Expectancy is the belief that increased effort will lead to increased performance i.e. if I work harder then this will be
better. This is affected by such things as:

• Having the right resources available (e.g. raw materials, time)

• Having the right skills to do the job

 • Having the necessary support to get the job done (e.g. supervisor support, or correct information on the job)
Instrumentality is the belief that if you perform well that a valued outcome will be received. The degree to which a first
level outcome will lead to the second level outcome. i.e. if I do a good job, there is something in it for me. This is
affected by such things as:

• Clear understanding of the relationship between performance and outcomes – e.g. the rules of the reward ‘game’

• Trust in the people who will take the decisions on who gets what outcome

• Transparency of the process that decides who gets what outcome

• Valence is the importance that the individual places upon the expected outcome. For the valence to be positive, the
person must prefer attaining the outcome to not attaining it. For example, if someone is mainly motivated by money, he
or she might not value offers of additional time off.

• Vroom’s expectancy theory works on perceptions – so even if an employer thinks they have provided everything
appropriate for motivation, and even if this works with most people in that organization, it doesn’t mean that someone
won’t perceive that it doesn’t work for them.

• To illustrate Expectancy theory: For example, I recycle paper because I think it’s important to conserve resources and
take a stand on environmental issues (valence); I think that the more effort I put into recycling the more paper I will
recycle (expectancy); and I think that the more paper I recycle then less resources will be used (instrumentality