Grit is defined as a trait-like perseverance and passion for long-term goals.
Two key components:
Consistency of interest: Maintaining the same goal over a long period.
Perseverance of effort: Working towards goals despite failure, setbacks, or adversity.
Gritty individuals approach achievement as a marathon; their advantage is stamina.
A gritty individual stays the course even when disappointed or bored.
Einstein: "It’s not that I’m smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer" - illustrating consistency of effort.
Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill represent perseverance of effort.
Duckworth et al. (2007) correlational study (n=1545):
Grit did not relate positively to IQ.
Grit was highly correlated with conscientiousness (Big 5 personality trait).
Grit was positively related to GPA scores.
Grit was associated with lower SAT scores among elite Ivy League students.
Suggested explanation: less bright students compensate with harder work; brighter students may stumble due to overconfidence.
Grit predicted retention of West Point Army cadets; gritty cadets were less likely to drop out.
Achievement of difficult goals requires sustained, focused application of talent over time.
Mechanisms Linking Grit to Achievement
Deliberate practice is a mediating variable.
Higher grit leads to higher deliberate practice, which leads to greater spelling bee performance.
Duckworth et al. (2011) study at the Scripps National Spelling Bee:
Children high in grit completed more hours of deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice: activities designed to improve specific aspects of performance.
In the spelling bee: study and memorization of word spellings and word roots.
Time spent on deliberate practice fully explained the relationship between grit and spelling bee performance.
Practice activities rated as more pleasurable and less effortful (e.g., reading for pleasure, being quizzed by parents) were dramatically less predictive of spelling performance.
The hardest, least pleasurable practice paid off most.
The grittiest kids did more of the hard practice.
12-item grit scale: Calculate your grit level by answering 12 questions and calculating your total mean score.
Scores range from 1 (not at all gritty) to 5 (extremely gritty).
Interventions for growth mindset can be useful in building grit.
Criticisms of Grit
Eskreis-Winkler et al. (2014): factors such as general IQ, physical fitness, and years of schooling explained more variance in military retention than grit.
Meta-analysis: grit was only moderately related to performance and retention (across 66,807 individuals).
Only the perseverance component of grit may be of primary utility.
Crede et al.: Grit is overrated and simply a repackaging of conscientiousness.