Effects of task motivation and expectancy of accomplishment upon attempts to lead

This experiment is the third in a series conducted to test hypotheses about the effects of situational and personal variables upon the frequency of attempts to lead. The present experiment tests hypotheses about the effects of two additional variables: task motivation and expectancy. The hypotheses involved in each of the three experiments are based upon a tentative theory of leadership in small groups. The experiment involved two independent variables, task motivation and expectancy of accomplishment, and a dependent variable, frequency of attempted leadership acts. Both task motivation and expectancy of accomplishment were varied at two levels. Subjects were selected from the men enrolled as students in the introductory psychology course at The Ohio State University. Each subject was able to fulfill part of his course requirement by taking part in this experiment. Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 26 years. Care was exercised to avoid including individuals with obviously deviant physical characteristics. In conclusion, individuals will attempt to lead more frequently if the rewards for task solution are high rather than low. If individuals expect acts of leadership to result in problem solution, they will attempt to lead more frequently than if they see no relationship between leading and solving the problem. In this experiment, task motivation and expectancy did not interact significantly in their effects upon attempted leadership. In the design of further experiments employing these variables, it is recommended that careful attention be given to both the potential effects upon other task characteristics of procedures utilized to vary task motivation and the processes that may intervene between the situation as presented and the situation as perceived. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)