Based on Dörnyei and his associates (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2013), the emergence of the cognitive-situated approach can be attributed to two main causes. One has been to broaden the understanding of L2 learning motivation, the other has been to shift the focus from the broader social context (i.e., language community, milieu) to actual learning contexts (e.g., L2 classroom) as a response to one of the earlier mentioned limitations of the social-psychological approach. To these ends, researchers have adopted several theories of motivation from the field of cognitive psychology, including attribution theory (Weiner, 1986), self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1995), self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2020), and mindset theory (Dweck, 2000, 2006). There have been attempts to integrate the main concepts associated with these theories into frameworks. Besides their comprehensiveness, Dörnyei’s (1994) and Williams and Burden’s (1997) works can be praised for recognizing the multifaceted nature of the L2 instructional context. More precisely, Dörnyei’s framework sheds light on the potential significance of the various aspects of the learning situation in L2 learning motivation, namely, the L2 course, the L2 teacher, and the L2 class, while Williams and Burden’s framework is known for ascribing importance to the broader learning contexts as well, such as the educational institution and the educational system. However, the two works also share a shortcoming with the models of Gardner (1985) and Clément (1980) in that they all view motivation as a linear process of cause–effect relationships that does not do full justice to its true nature (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2013). I limit the scope of my discussion below to all the earlier mentioned cognitive psychological theories of motivation but Dweck’s (2000, 2006) due to their relevance to my research findings.