Abstract
This study was designed to forge stronger theoretical and empirical links between achievement goal theory and attribution theory. High school students (N = 224) completed a self-report survey that assessed 3 types of achievement goals, 7 types of attributions, and self-efficacy. Results indicated that students' adoption of achievement goals explained 4 types of attributions, but no single type of achievement goal stood out as the most consistent or strongest predictor for those attributions. Results also showed that a focus on mastery and certain types of attributions, but not either form of performance goals was associated with a more adaptive pattern of behavioral and cognitive engagement. Overall, the present study provides a valuable contribution by promoting integration among prominent models of achievement motivation, and by extending what is known about the relations between each of these models and students' academic functioning.