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Early History
Expectation Violations Theory has its roots in Uncertainty Reduction research developed by Charles R. Berger which attempts to predict and explain how communication is used to reduce the uncertainty among people involved in conversations with one another the first time they meet.

Early communication research that led to EVT was conducted by Judee K. Burgoon in 1976 from her Nonverbal Expectancy Violations Model. It explored issues of personal space and how communicative functions could be seen through expectations and expectation violations. In its earliest form, the theory focused on how people react to violations of personal space. Later however, the theory was extended to encompass all types of behavior violations. Whereas much of Burgoon’s work emphasizes nonverbal violations of physical space, also known as the study of proxemics.

Expectancy Violations Theory development
Expectancy Violations Theory builds on this theory in understanding Proxemics further. Guerrero and Anderson propose that an unexpected behavior during interpersonal communication causes arousal and uncertainty in people; people then look to explain the violation in order to better predict another’s behavior.

In relation to Burgoon's Proxemics Theroy, a large percentage of the attention has being paid to personal space norms recognizing a gap in research regarding the use of space as communication. Her theory brings to light another new component: kinesics. This is the study of body movements, gestures and facial expressions as a means of communication. Also, the communicator, or violator, has a degree of power either in the present situation or a possible future one that influences the interpretation of his/her actions. The theory was later applied to other forms of nonverbal behaviour and subsequently to other acts of communication, This is now referred to as EVT. It is considered a theory of communication processes, and more specifically a theory of discourse and interaction.

Recent Advancements
Recently, the theory has undergone some reconstitution by Burgoon and her colleagues and has resulted in a newer theory known as Interaction Adaptation Theory, which is a more comprehensive explanation of adaptation in interpersonal interaction.

Core concepts of Expectancy Violations Theory
The Three core concepts of Expectancy Violations Theory are Expectancy, Violation Valence and Communicator Reward Valence.

Expectancy
An example of an Expectancy Violation is how close you allow people to approach you before the distance you expect them to approach to within is violated. For example a friend would be allowed to approach you closer than a member of the public. On the other end of the scale, you expect in a relationship that the personal space is more intimate.

According to the expectancy violation theory, three core factors affect expectancies: communicator characteristics, relational characteristics and context. Communication characteristics are individual differences, including age, sex, ethnic background, and personality traits. For instance, you might expect an elderly woman to be more polite than an adolescent boy based on perceptions.

Expectancy refers to what an individual anticipates will happen in a given situation. Expectancy violations refer to the actions which sufficiently discrepant from the expectancy that is noticeable and classified as outside the expectancy range. In psychology such behaviour is frequently referred to as behavioural dis-confirmation.

Behavioural expectations may also shift depending on the enviroment you are experiencing for example visiting a church will produce different expectations than being in a social function. The violations you expect will therefore be altered. Similarly expectations differ based on culture. For example, you may expect someone to greet you by kissing your face three times on alternating cheeks if you are in parts of Europe, but not if you are in the United States.

Communicator Reward Valence
The communicator reward valence is an evaluation you make about the person who committed the violation. Em Griffin summarises the concept behind Communicator Reward Valence as the sum of positive and negative attributes brought to the encounter plus the potential to reward or punish in the future. More specifically, does this person have the ability to reward or punish you in the future? If so, then the person has a positive reward valence. Rewards simply refer to this person’s ability to provide you with something you want or need.

By examining the context, relationship, and communicator’s characteristics, individuals arrive at a certain expectation for how a given person should and will likely behave. Changing even one of these expectancy variables might lead to a different expectation.

Violation Valence
Violation Valence is the perceived positive or negative value assigned to a breach of expectations, Regardless of who the violator is. Once you have determined,that someone’s behaviour was, in fact, a breach of expectation, you then judge the behaviour in question. This breach is known as the violation valence—the positive or negative evaluation you make about a behaviour that you did not anticipate. The difference between the negative violation and the negative confirmation do not appear significant. Dis-confirmations tend to intensify the outcomes,especially in the positive violation condition.