Achievement goal orientations and transfer of training represent two important themes in contemporary training research. Achievement goal orientations are tendencies for which individuals engage in task-related behavior (Midgley, Kaplan, Middleton, Maehr, Urdan, Anderman, Anderman, & Roeser, 1998; Sideridis, 2003). Transfer of training is defined as the productive use of knowledge and skills on the job (De Corte, 2003), including generalization of the learned material to the job context and maintenance of the material learned in training over an extended period of time (Baldwin & Ford, 1988). The present study used meta-analytic methods to examine the extent to which different dimensions of achievement goal orientations, after controlling for sampling error and error of measurement, influence transfer of training. For this aim, achievement goal orientations were conceptualized in three dimensions reflecting a trichotomous theorization of achievement goal orientations (Midgley et al., 1998). A learning goal (sometimes labeled a task goal, mastery goal, or mastery-approach goal) refers to developing competence or to mastering tasks. A performance goal (sometimes labeled an ability goal, ego goal, or performance-approach goal) refers to demonstrating normative competence. An avoidance goal (sometimes labeled a performance-avoidance goal) refers to avoiding showing normative incompetence. Examining these differential relationships is relevant because the findings can inform us on the motivational influences on transfer (De Corte, 2003; Segers & Gegenfurtner, 2013). This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of employee training and workplace development by combining different kinds of studies from different countries all over the world over the last 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the stability or changes in achievement goal orientations, and their relation to training transfer. For achievement goal orientations there are theoretical reasons to expect both stability and change. On one hand, reasons to expect stability in achievement goal endorsement lie in the hierarchical nature of achievement motivation and in the nature of continued goal pursuit (Fryer & Elliot, 2007; Tuominen-Soini, Salmela-Aro, & Niemivirta, 2011. On the other hand, reasons to expect change in achievement goal endorsement lie in the multiple types of change that may take place in goal commitments, goal intensifications, and regulative striving (Fryer & Elliot, 2007). Based on these two conflicting theoretical positions, the purpose of the study was to test the two research questions: “Do different achievement goal orientations show different correlations with transfer of training?” and “Does time lag and training length moderate the relationship between achievement goal orientations and transfer of training?”

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