Date of Award
1977
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Expectancy seems to operate as described in J.B. Rotter' s Social Learning Theory (1954). His work , although seemingly related to that of other notables (Riesman, 1954, in particular), is distinguished through one vital concept- perception. According to Rotter, any reinforcement or reward will gain or lose effectiveness in insuring the recurrence of a preceding behavior or event only if it is perceived to have a casual relationship. One must believe the reward to be contingent upon his behavior or independent of it in order for an expectancy to be established (Rotter, 1954, 1960). It follows then that the reward or reinforcement would strengthen the expectancy that a behavior or act should be followed by that same reinforcement in the future and once established, the failure of that reinforcement to appear should reduce or extinguish the expectancy. Over time an individual establishes patterns for reinforcement and these differ in degree of attribution of contingency on his actions (Rotter, 1966).
Recommended Citation
Embrey, Gary W., "Correlating locus of control with the motive to avoid success" (1977). Master's Theses. 408.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/408