222 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations
from a conscious decision - making process undertaken by an individual. The
decision to act rests on three sets of perceptions: expectancy , instrumentality ,
and valence. Expectancy is the individual ’ s perception that a certain level
of effort is required to achieve a certain level of performance. Instrumental-
ity is the strength of the belief that a certain level of performance will be
associated with various outcomes such as promotion, pay increase, and the
opportunity to telecommute. Valence is the attractiveness of the outcomes.
In the decision to act, these perceptions are assumed to be combined.
The theory focuses on the following relationships:Effort to performance relationship. The probability perceived by the
individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead to the desired
performance
Performance - reward relationship. The degree to which the individual
believes performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment
of a desired outcome
Rewards - personal goals relationship. The degree to which rewards satisfy
the individual ’ s personal goals or needs and the attractiveness of
those rewards for the individual(^) Equity Theory Equity theory is often referred to as social comparison the-
ory (Adams, 1965). Employers and employees enter into an exchange
relationship: the employer provides outcomes such as pay, praise, pro-
motions, and benefi ts, and the employee provides inputs, which is his
or her performance.
An employee who perceives that the ratios of outcomes to inputs are
about equal is likely to be satisfi ed with the exchange relationship. The
balance of outcomes to inputs is the goal that employees are motivated to
achieve. Employees compare themselves to other employees both within
and outside the organization. If the employee perceives that the ratio of
his or her inputs is less than the ratio of outcomes to inputs for others,
the employee may feel underrewarded. Rarely do employees feel over-
rewarded. Positive outcomes are pay, fringe benefi ts, a pleasant working
environment, friendly coworkers, and intrinsic outcomes of the job itself.
Negative outcomes include unpleasant or hazardous working conditions,
a monotonous job, and controlling supervision. The perception of inequity
creates an internal state of tension that the individual is motivated to
reduce, which can be accomplished by changing the inputs. A person can