Expectancy-Value Theory: What Kind of Goals Does Dean Have?

 

The Expectancy-Value Theory is made up of two main parts, expectancy and value. In this blog post I will focus on the value aspect of the theory which is traditionally made up of five different components: goals, interests, reasons, utility, and cost (Reeve). Dean is a very motivated individual when it comes to hunting and his family. He is focused on making sure his brother his safe most of the time and rarely focuses on himself when it comes to his own wellbeing. So, he has goals but most of them are regarding either his brother or his father.

            One of his main goals his to keep his brother safe, keeping him from harm whether from ghosts, monsters, himself, and other supernatural creatures and beings. The reason behind this goal is because before their father died, he asked Dean to always look after Sam regardless of what happens. Now this seems like a reasonable request from a father to his son but there was an ulterior motive to why he said this. Their father knew that there was something different about Sam since both boys were kids and that possibly one day the brothers would have to go head-to-head in a way that neither of them would ever want. Dean wants to reach this goal, a goal that could be considered a performance goal, because it would prove to his father that he can do what is asked of him regardless. Dean has always wanted to reach every performance goal put in front of him because he was always seeking the positive feedback from his father who is one of the most important figures in his life.

            The cost of reaching this goal is extremely high for Dean. In his desire to reach this goal he developed quite the self-sacrificing complex for his brother. Dean lost a lot and gave a lot up in order to reach this goal, his happiness, his soul, and his life at one point. All of these are very high costs for a man who simply wanted to do one thing, protect his younger brother as his father asked of him. As you progress through the seasons of the show, there are many layers that get peeled back and show the reasonings behind why not only Dean, but many other characters did what they did regardless of the cost.

            Many times, the reasons for reaching these goals or behind the goals themselves can be difficult and layered. In the beginning of the show the reasoning behind why Dean hunts and is on the trail of the demon that killed his mom is straight forward. Yet, as the show continues, he finds out that the world of the supernatural is anything but black and white but rather a huge gray area. His goal in the beginning was to kill supernatural creatures and beings and the reasoning behind that was because they were all “bad”. Then he learns that some of these creatures and beings that he hunts aren’t always out to harm other people, mainly humans, which causes his to reconsider his reasoning for being a hunter in the first place. So, once these goals that he was dead set in reaching and completing start to lose their purpose and meaning to him it causes him to stop and think about what he is doing. This pause doesn’t last long but it causes him to create new goals, ones that focus around protecting his family and friends and saving people who need his help. Rather than letting the changing of his goals stop him from doing what he does best it pushes him to become a better hunter, but with an open mind to who and what he is hunting.