Achievement goals of university instructors for teaching were examined. We investigated the structure of these goals, the stability of this structure across different groups of instructors, and the relations of these goals to teaching-related outcomes. Achievement goals, positive affect, attitudes towards help, and self-reported teaching quality were assessed in a sample of 1,066 German university instructors from three different status groups (221 full professors, 370 postdoc staff members, 427 staff members without a PhD). The results confirmed that the wellestablished mastery, performance approach, and performance avoidance goals are likewise valid for university instructors, and that an appearance and a normative component of performance goals can be distinguished. Learning avoidance goals could be distinguished from learning approach goals and task goals could be separated from learning and performance goals. Also, work avoidance and relational goals were distinct from all previous goals. A model representing all differentiations adequately fitted the data. The goal structure was found to be completely invariant across different status groups of instructors-however, groups differed by mean levels of goals. Structural equation modeling pointed to the relevance of the goals: Theoretically sensible relationships with positive affect, attitudes towards help, and teaching quality affirmed the predictive validity of each goal class. Again, these relations were identical for all groups of instructors, highlighting the importance of the addressed goals independent of instructor status. Taken together, this sheds light on the structure of university instructors' achievement goals, and emphasizes the importance of this concept for analyzing instruction and learning in higher education.

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The present study examines the achievement goals of university instructors, particularly the structure of such goals, and their relationship to biographic characteristics, other aspects of instructors’ motivation, and teaching quality. Two hundred and fifty-one university instructors (184 without Ph.D., 97 with Ph.D., thereof 51 full professors; 146 males, 92 females) answered a questionnaire measuring achievement goals, self-efficacy, and enthusiasm in altogether 392 courses. Teaching quality was assessed using reports from 9,241 students who were attending these courses. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed mastery, performance approach, performance avoidance, work avoidance, and relational goals as being distinguishable from each other. Distinct relationships were found between different instructors’ achievement goals, and gender, age, and career status as well as self-efficacy and enthusiasm. Hierarchical linear models suggested positive associations of instructors’ mastery goals with teaching quality, while negative associations were indicated for performance avoidance goals and work avoidance goals in relation to teaching quality. Exploratory analyses conducted due to a quite large correlation between performance approach and performance avoidance goals indicated that for university instructors, differentiating performance goals into appearance and normative components might also be adequate. All in all, the study highlights the auspiciousness of the theoretical concept of university instructors’ achievement goals and contributes to making it comprehensively accessible.