Abstract ABSTRACT: In recent years, expectancy theory has emerged as the most promising conceptualization of individual motivation. This paper reports the results of a study undertaken to test the theory in public accounting firms. Using a sample of staff accountants from two "Big Eight" public accounting firms, the findings provide only limited support for the theory in the accounting environment and indicate that while expectancy models were generally weak predictors of audit staff performance, they were significant predictors of employee job satisfaction.
Kenneth R. Ferris (Fri,) studied this question.