Martha was promised a 10% raise if she wins a contract with the city government. Martha could use the money to pay off some debts. However, she happens to know that another company already has informally won the contract. There is a very slim chance that she could win the contract away from the other organization, but she does not believe she can do it. According to expectancy theory, Martha is unmotivated to try to win the contract because she lacks __________.

Expectancy theory is a concept developed by Victor H. Vroom in 1964, where he postulated, that the strength an individual has in terms of his or her motivation to do an action, would appear when three components are satisfied to a certain value: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. The question above is relevant to the expectancy component, which is detailed as the belief that an individual has regarding their efforts would result in the individual choosing to perform an action. In the case of Martha, she wasn’t sure that her efforts in trying to win the contract would lead to her 10% raise (outcome, a component of instrumentality), and thus, she decided not to try.