ABSTRACT
The concepts of goals and plans have not only played an important role in research on motivation and self-regulation (Ach, 1935; Carver & Scheier, 1981; Kruglanski, 1996; Lewin, 1926; Miller, Galanter, & Pribram, 1960), but goals and plans and their effects on affect, behavior, and cognition have become a very popular research topic in social psychology (Frese & Sabini, 1985; Gollwitzer & Bargh, 1996; Halisch & Kuhl, 1987; Pervin, 1989). The goal concept has also received recent attention in educational psychology (Snow & Corno, 1996). Modern goal theories can be classified in two groups: (a) goal content theories, and (b) self-regulation theories of goal striving. How these goal theories contribute to theorizing about educational implications of goal setting and goal striving is discussed in this chapter.
