Most studies instead point to the importance of more general traits, like autonomy or a sense of competence (see, for example, the voluminous research literature on Self-Determination Theory for more on such findings).

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Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are well established terms in the literature on the psychology of motivation, primarily from a set of theories called Self-Determination Theory, which was developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester.

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