<p>This study examines motivational differences between economics and non-economics students in higher education, addressing a significant gap in discipline specific motivational research. Using hierarchical regression analysis with Israeli undergraduate students, we investigated how personality traits, grit, having a growth mindset, and self-esteem predict two types of motivation: the internal desire for personal development and the external desire to meet professional requirements. Results revealed fundamentally different motivational architectures between the groups. Economics students demonstrated highly predictable motivational patterns dominated by intellectual curiosity and beliefs about competence. In contrast, non-economics students exhibited more complex, individualized patterns influenced by interpersonal factors and processes aligned with self-determination theory principles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Within group analyses revealed that economics students who scored higher on agreeableness were more oriented toward personal development, challenging assumptions about uniform external motivations in this population. Between group comparisons demonstrated significant differences in how personality traits and psychological factors operate across disciplines. In particular, consistency of interests varied the most in their effects. These findings are consistent with self-determination theory and suggest that disciplinary contexts may moderate motivational development pathways, with implications for understanding how educational environments create varying opportunities for satisfying psychological needs. The research indicates that effective preparation for the knowledge economy requires discipline sensitive approaches to student development, curriculum design, and career counseling that optimize personal fulfillment and professional preparation within each academic context rather than universal, one size fits all educational interventions.</p>