Victor Vroom
Canadian psychologist (1932–2023)
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Through Montreal and Motivation
Early life
Vroom was born in Montreal, Quebec on August 9, 1932. He held a PhD from University of Michigan and an MS and BS from McGill University. Dr. Vroom initially was interested in music as a child, but later found interest in psychology after taking a career interests test in high school that showed he had the best potential of being either a musician or a psychologist. He continued to explore his love for music by playing the alto saxophone and clarinet for his high school band and at local clubs around Montreal. After high school graduation, Vroom initially wanted to become a part of a USA big band, but after being instructed by his father to become a bank teller (for a more stable career) Vroom enrolled in Sir George Williams College (now Concordia University). After his freshman year, he transferred to his alma mater, McGill University, where he earned a special honors bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in industrial psychology. Before beginning his professional career, he finished his terminal degree (PhD) at the University of Michigan. It was at the University of Michigan that he met his first wife, Ann Workman, with whom he had two sons: Derek and Jeffrey. Later on, he met and is survived by his second wife, Julia Francis, with whom he had their two sons Tristan and Trevor. He died on July 26, 2023, at the age of 90 while living in Guilford, Connecticut.
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Career
Victor began his professional career as a director for the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, while lecturing. He then took a position at the University of Pennsylvania teaching introductory and foundational courses in psychology, social psychology, and industrial psychology. Later, Vroom began teaching at Carnegie Mellon and began to understand and fit-in more with his strictly business science colleagues. This position eventually propelled him to work for a rebuilding Yale University, where he was appointed chair in only a few weeks, and where he stayed a professor at until his death.
Vroom was also a consultant to a number of corporations such as GE and American Express.
Victor Vroom was appointed Chairman of the Department of Administrative Sciences and associate Director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale in 1972.
Theory of Expectancy
His primary research was on the expectancy theory of motivation, which attempts to explain why individuals choose to follow certain courses of action and prefer certain goals or outcomes over others in organizations, particularly in decision-making and leadership. His most well-known books are Work and Motivation, Leadership and Decision Making and The New Leadership. In this theory, he suggested that motivation is largely influenced by the combination of a person's belief that effort leads to performance, which then leads to specific outcomes, and that such outcomes are valued by the individual. Along with the version of Lyman Porter and Edward Lawler, Vroom's formulation is generally considered as representing major contributions to expectancy theory, having stood the test of time and historical scrutiny.
Vroom described the valence of a specific outcome as "a monotonically increasing function of the algebraic sum of the products of the valences of all other outcomes and his conceptions of its instrumentality for the attainment of these other outcomes." The second proposition central to Vroom's theory maintains that "the force on a person to perform an act is monotonically increasing function of the algebraic sum of the products of the valences of all outcomes and the strength of his experiences that the act will be followed by the attainment of these outcomes."
Notable Facts
Vroom was an avid sailor and captain, having even guided his ship with his family on it during a storm.
Vroom was a part of several semi-professional and professional big bands, one of them he founded in graduate school named "The Intellectuals".
Vroom once had a health scare, being diagnosed as having advanced-staged carcinoma in 1977. It was later discovered that it was actually sarcoidosis, yet he considered it a near-death experience and used it to fuel a lifestyle change.