The Effect of Environmental Uncertainty on the Association of Expectancy Attitudes,Effort, and Performance

Abstract

This study examined the impact of perceived environmental uncertainty on the relationship between expectancy attitudes, effort, and performance within certified public accounting firms. Professional auditors provided data on the degree of uncertainty existing in their job assignments and measurements of the expectancy model. The results indicated that as perceived uncertainty increased, the ability of the expectancy model to predict performance decreased significantly, implying that increased performance could result from positive effort and outcome associations if environmental uncertainty was reduced. These results also provided a possible explanation for the somewhat low and inconsistent results found when comparing prior expectancy studies and suggested that uncertainty is a boundary condition to be considered in future applications of the expectancy model.