A COMPARISON OF UNIT,SUBJECTIVE, AND REGRESSION MEASURES OF SECOND-LEVEL VALENCES IN EXPECTANCY THEORY |
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Authors: | Michael J. Stahl David W. Grigsby |
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Abstract: | Two different decision-making exercises are compared with unit weights and with traditional Likert scales as measures of second-level valences in expectancy theory. Second-level valences are measured across different levels of outcomes in each exercise and compared to the traditional subjective- and unit-weight measures. In the first experiment, the job-preference decisions of 21 undergraduates are examined using a decision-making exercise involving 24 hypothetical jobs described in terms of three intrinsic instrumentalities at two levels. In the second experiment, a different 21 undergraduates make job-preference decisions in a decision-making exercise involving 27 hypothetical jobs described in terms of three extrinsic instrumentalities at three levels. The β-weight (standardized regression coefficient) measures of the second-level valences are found to be more powerful predictors of job-preference decisions than either subjective-weight or unit-weight measures, both before and after shrinkage. They also had higher cross validations, exhibited higher test-retest reliability, and allowed testing of a quadratic motivational effect in the three-level exercise. |
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Keywords: | Decision Processes Expectancy Theory Human Information Processing Organizational Behavior |
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