5 Types of Expectations and Their Influences

Learn about the different kinds of expectations and how they influence our daily lives.

Expectations are beliefs or assumptions about what is likely to happen in the future and are based on personal experiences, cultural norms, desires, or explicit agreements about what someone is going to do. Expectations of this sort can be adjusted and used for emotion regulation (Brudner et al., 2018). For example, we can expect a worst-case scenario of some event in the future to help us feel less disappointment, or we can expect an excellent experience to generate feelings of excitement in the present moment.

You may be familiar with the Anaïs Nin quote “We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are.” This notion is much more literally true than perhaps it was intended. We are more likely to perceive what we expect to be there and less likely to accurately perceive what we do not expect. In life, you might mistake a stranger for a dear friend because you are expecting your friend’s arrival or misinterpret facial expressions in a way that aligns with what you expect the other person is thinking or feeling even though you might be completely wrong.

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”
― Alexander Pope

Expectations Theory

Expectations are most commonly studied scientifically in terms of prediction and inference as mentioned earlier. Specifically, expectations are studied in terms of what’s known as predictive processing and active inference.

Predictive processing, also known as predictive coding or the predictive brain hypothesis, is a theoretical framework in cognitive psychology and neuroscience that attempts to explain how the brain processes information and makes sense of the world (Millidge, 2019).

The predictive processing theory of expectations

The predictive processing theory suggests that the brain is a prediction machine. In other words, it proposes that the brain continuously generates predictions about incoming sensory information and compares those predictions to the actual sensory input it receives. Our brains then update the predictions it makes based on the differences between what it expects and what it actually gets.

Active inference & expectations

Active inference is a concept closely related to predictive processing. In short, it’s a theoretical framework in cognitive neuroscience that describes how the brain might operate to minimize prediction errors and maintain its internal models of the world. In other words, it states that the primary purpose of the brain is to minimize the amount of surprise or uncertainty it has to deal with. That is, the brain not only passively perceives the world but is also actively involved in shaping its sensory experiences by generating and updating predictions through experiences.

Types of Expectations

As mentioned, expectations can take many forms. Here are a few examples of the different types of expectations.

● Personal expectations: These are the beliefs an individual has about themselves, their abilities, and how they think they will perform in various situations. For example, someone may have high expectations for their academic performance or career advancement.

● Social expectations: These are the norms and standards set by society or a particular group. They dictate how people should behave, interact, and fulfill specific roles or responsibilities. Social expectations vary across cultures and can include manners, etiquette, and social norms.

● Performance expectations: These are the standards set for someone’s or something’s performance or outcome. For instance, a boss may have certain expectations regarding an employee’s productivity or a customer may have expectations about the quality of a product they purchase.

● Relationship expectations: These are the assumptions and desires people have about their interpersonal relationships, such as friendship, romantic partnerships, or family bonds. They encompass emotional support, communication, trust, and other aspects of a relationship.

● Organizational expectations: In a professional context, organizations often have expectations for their employees’ behavior, conduct, and performance. This can be outlined in company policies, job descriptions, and performance evaluations.

Disappointments

Though expectations can serve us well when they align with reality, they can also be the source of some serious heartache when they don’t. That is, when our expectations are not met, we often feel disappointed and sometimes even heartbroken.

As mentioned earlier, managing expectations is a useful emotion regulation strategy (Brudner et al., 2018). In other words, we can adjust our expectations to avoid disappointment to some extent. However, as you’ve likely experienced, even when adjust our expectations about the outcome of some situation, there might be an ideal outcome we hope will come to fruition, which can still create a sense of disappointment.

In Sum

There are different kinds of expectations. Some of which we are aware of and can manage and others that form the foundation of our perception of the world which is less obvious.

References

● Brudner, E. G., Denkova, E., Paczynski, M., & Jha, A. P. (2018). The role of expectations and habitual emotion regulation in emotional processing: An ERP investigation. Emotion, 18(2), 171.

● Millidge, B. (2019). Implementing predictive processing and active inference: Preliminary steps and results.