in analyses of decision making, the extent to which an outcome is (a) desired or valued and (b) thought to be probable by the decision maker. The choice of one alternative over others is to a considerable extent a function of the personal (or subjective) value placed by an individual on a specific act or outcome as well as the perceived probability (expectation) that the given alternative will lead to that outcome. Many analyses assume that the alternative selected is the one for which the product of the expectation and the subjective value is the highest.