AIM Framework glossary
Private Persistence
Canonical definition
The continued pursuit of an activity when no one is watching, no external reward is contingent on performance, and no audience is present. Private Persistence is the critical diagnostic feature of Intrinsic Motivation (I). Read across an interval long enough for an established Mimetic valuation to release, Private Persistence excludes Mimetic Desire (M) in its special case, and Private Persistence in an activity that is rewarding in the doing indicates I. Private Persistence is evidence for I, not proof of I. An Appetitive need persists in private until it is met, a Habit runs on the Decision Hub's cached-value store whatever formed it, and M in its general case, the Observer's Salience over the perceived field, requires no Model and so no audience to remove. The A-test of the Two-Question Diagnostic separates the first; whether the activity is rewarding in the doing, and for an observer whether it deepens with competence, separates the other two (Chapter 18, Section 18.7.2).
Explanation
If you keep doing something when nobody will ever see it, nobody is paying you for it and nobody is there to impress, that tells you something about why you do it. A want that depends on being seen fades once the audience has been gone long enough, though not straight away, because a want built around an audience takes time to let go. If the activity carries on and the doing is its own reward, the drive is Intrinsic. Carrying on is not proof by itself: hunger carries on until you eat, a habit runs whether anyone is watching or not, and some things hold your attention just by being striking, with nobody else involved.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Diagnostic.