The present study used an interaction approach to investigate how individuals' dispositions about ability as incremental or fixed (entity), manipulated learning environments, and intrinsic motivation affect persistence and performance on a challenging, novel motor skill. Seventy-two female college students who were assigned to either an incremental or entity learning condition for instruction and practice completed questionnaires and attempted to learn the skill. The results indicated that participants oriented toward incremental beliefs were likely to be more intrinsically motivated. Participants who were intrinsically motivated were likely to perform better on a final skill test. The significant interaction effect on persistence suggests that participants who were highly intrinsically motivated in the incremental condition persisted longer than those in the entity condition. (Contains 5 tables.)