A theoretical framework was laid out which outlined the dynamic processes of self-regulation in learning and performance. It was suggested that the goals and outcomes students favor and pursue are crucial determinants of how

students approach academic tasks. Two major forms of selfregulation were identified; one with a focus on gaining personal resources, and another with a focus on restoring the balance in personal well-being. The tendency to engage in different variants of these basic forms of self-regulation was presumed to be reflected in the patterning of different achievement goal orientations.

The general research questions of the study were as follows:

(1) What sort of goal orientations and goal orientation profiles can be identified among comprehensive school students?

(2) How generalizable are goal orientations n relation to gender and cultural background?

(3) How do students with different goal orientation profiles differ with respect to motivational beliefs, situational appraisals, and indices of school achievement and task performance?

(4) How do students' taskrelated experiences and performance vary as a function of different instructional conditions?

Four empirical studies addressed these questions: Study I looked at the patterning of goal orientations, motivational beliefs, and school

performance as such and in relation to gender; Study II examined the

generalizability of goal orientations, causality beliefs, and their relationships across different cultural backgrounds; Study III investigated

the influence of the instructional condition on differently oriented students' situational appraisals and task performance; and Study IV

explored the role situational appraisals play in mediating the influence of goal orientations and causality beliefs on task performance, as well as gender differences in these effects and on variable means.

The role of achievement goal orientations was examined from both

variablecentered and person-centered perspectives. Several types of goal orientations and configurations of goal orientations were identified. The results of the empirical studies showed that different achievement goal orientations were uniquely associated with criterion variables such as action-control beliefs, self-perceptions, selfreported learning strategy use, situation-specific motivational judgments, and taskperformance.

Findings from the person-centered analyses paralleled these results. For the most part, these results concurred with those of prior studies. The types of goal orientations identified were not dependent on gender or nationality, although group differences were found for variable means. Regarding the

effects of cultural background, the results showed variation in how goal

orientations were associated with certain types of action-control beliefs.