Motivation and emotion/Book/2023/Grit and achievement

Grit and achievement:
How does grit affect achievement?

Overview

Take a moment to think about something you are completely passionate about – something that has captured you for years. Maybe it's a hobby, a sport, your job, or what you study. What does that look like for you? Do you want to do it even when you don't necessarily have to? Or are you motivated to practice it in challenging ways, driven by your mindset that if you keep trying, you'll get better at it? Have you maintained this passion for years, with your interest enabling you to persevere despite challenges, setbacks, and even failure?

Duckworth et al. (2007) propose that this trait is grit: ongoing perseverance and passion for long-term goals, created through consistent interests and persevered effort over time. Grit is more than passing interest, it is a deep and enduring commitment to achieving your long term goals, no matter what obstacles come in your way. Grit is a factor that can help to understand what makes some people keep trying when others give up. Grit works as both a predictor and an outcome of achievement, promoting thoughts and behaviours that enable success in a range of life domains including health and wellbeing, academic and professional success, and sports.

Focus questions:

What are the theories that explain grit and achievement, and how do they interact?
How does grit translate to behaviour, and how do these behaviours promote achievement?
What are the cognitive processes observed in high-grit individuals that empower them to achieve?
Despite the popularity of grit, what critiques have been made on its value as a predictor of achievement?

Theoretical concepts

Understanding the foundational theories of grit and achievement is essential when examining the interaction between grit and achievement, and the role they play in promoting success in the lives of individuals.

Grit

Grit combines passion and perseverance towards long-term goals, characterised by consistent interests and perseverance of effort over time (Duckworth et al., 2007). Perseverance describes consistent interests and sustained effort made over time, while passion involves a deep and enduring interest. It generates emotions tied to core personal values, motivating behaviours and thoughts that reinforce those values (Jachimowitz et al., 2018). It is strongly correlated with conscientiousness, self-control, emotional stability, and mental toughness (Credé et al., 2017). Understanding grit can help explain why some individuals are motivated to persist in challenging situations, resulting in achievements across various domains.

Initial research proposed a two-factor hierarchical model with factors of passion and perseverance. However, recent findings argue that it may be better conceptualised as a single trait (Duckworth et al., 2021). Meta-analytic findings suggest perseverance is the sub-facet of grit most strongly associated with achievement, with consistent behaviours and positive thoughts helping people achieve their long-term goals (Kim & Lee, 2015; Credé et al., 2017).

Test yourself on the grit scale here.

Achievement

Achievement refers to completing a task successfully, often requiring effort, skill, and overcoming a degree of challenge. People can have high or low needs for achievement, which drives their desire to do well relative to a standard of excellence, ending with an objective outcome of success or failure (Reeve, 2018). These standards of excellence provide individuals with a benchmark against which they can compare their performance and vary depending on the domain.

While standards of excellence can be explicit and determined by others, individuals with a high need for achievement are subconsciously motivated to improve their performance and overcome challenges (Reeve, 2018). For example, a school student with high achievement motivation is likely not only to want to strive towards a high GPA, but they are also more likely to be intrinsically motivated, wanting to learn for the pleasure of learning and having deeper cognitive engagement in their study (Reeve, 2018).

Gritty behaviours that enable achievement

People love the idea that some people are naturally talented. When watching the Olympics, someone might say, "Oh, I could never have done that. I am just not athletic." However, there are lots of factors that go into achievement beyond natural talent. Duckworth et al. (2007) argue that when looking at why some people achieve when others fail, talent does matter, but effort counts twice as much. Gritty individuals engage in a range of behaviours over time promoting skill development and expertise, enabling them to achieve their long-term goals and achieve in a range of domains.

Deliberate practice

Deliberate practice is engaging in challenging, effortful practice activities designed to improve current performance and is a critical factor mediating the relationship between grit and achievement. Grittier individuals are more likely to engage in more effective and challenging practice, more frequently (Duckworth et al., 2007). In a study examining what enabled achievement in children at the American National Spelling Bee, Duckworth et al. (2011) found that high-achieving children were more likely to choose the more effortful but less enjoyable practice method of studying and memorising alone, as they knew it would be more effective than other more enjoyable practice strategies, such as being quizzed by others.

Deliberate practice methods have been linked to sporting skill development, with expert athletes accumulating more deliberate practice hours over their careers than non-experts (Tedesqui & Young, 2018). Tedesqui and Young (2018) found that grit was a better predictor for expert sport development than conscientiousness or self-control, as athletes were more likely to engage in deliberate practice. This study found that gritty young adults engaging in national or state level sports prioritised skill development in their sport above other life interests. These findings support the theory that grit enables engagement in deliberate practice over many years, which plays an important role in achievement.

Goal setting

Goal setting allows people to work towards a specific target they want to achieve and find a way to get there. Gritty individuals tend to have clear goal hierarchies and maintain focus on a single pursuit over many years (Schimschal et al., 2021). They are also more likely to have strong goal commitment, leading to higher perseverance of effort over time, even after controlling for conscientiousness, academic persistence, prior academic achievement and engagement, gender, and socioeconomic status (Tang et al., 2021).

Alhadabi and Karpinski (2020) examined the behaviours of gritty students, finding they were more likely to set performance-oriented goals aimed at achieving a specific standard of performance or outcome. In contrast, students with lower levels of grit were more likely to be disinterested in their studies and engage in avoidance behaviours. Grit is also associated with setting and achieving mastery approach goals, focused on developing competence and acquiring task mastery (Alhadabi & Karpinski, 2020).

A higher-order goal is a goal that an individual perceives as more important to them than their other goals and is linked to their sense of identity and core values (Teimouri et al., 2022). Achievement of these goals takes many years, requiring people to remain committed despite challenges and distractions. Passion promotes sustained interest in these higher-order goals, helping people persist even when encountering challenges, obstacles, or failures (Teimouri et al., 2022). This sustained interest helps gritty individuals engage in the lower-level goals daily goals that will progress them towards achieving their long-term higher-order goals.

Grit as an outcome of achievement

Not only does grit promote behaviours that enable achievement, but it also increases as a result of achievement over time as part of a self-reinforcing process. People who believe achievement is associated with effort are more likely to work consistently and diligently towards their goals over time (Park et al., 2020). This attribution is reinforced when goals are achieved, with individuals being more likely to attribute their success to their hard work than natural talent or other factors.

Grit is also thought to develop over the lifespan. Rhodes abd Giovanetti (2022) discovered a positive correlation between grit scores and ageing, suggesting that as individuals age and consistently experience achievement due to their perseverance and passion, their grit increases. Grit has also been associated with improved later-life cognitive performance, serving as a protective factor that promotes adaptation to the challenges of aging through improved physical and emotional well-being (Rhodes & Giovanetti, 2022).

Cognitive processes

Case study

90-year-old Ron has been an active person his whole life (see Figure 1). He has run every day since his childhood and continues to exercise for an hour every day. He remains passionate and excited about this activity, contributing to his health.

Gritty individuals have higher levels of positive affect, self-efficacy, mindfulness, purpose commitment, self-regulation and hardiness, with these positive thoughts and behaviours helping people to achieve their long-term goals (Schimschal et al., 2021).

Satisfaction of basic needs

Self-determination theory proposes that for people to experience positive well-being and growth, they need three things: autonomy, control over their actions, competence, or the ability to do something well, and relatedness, meaningful connections with others. A survey of South Korean young adults revealed that grit is strongly related to autonomy and competence, mediating the effects of grit on subjective well-being (Jin & Kim, 2017). These findings support the argument that although grit does not directly increase subjective well-being, gritty individuals are more likely to be able to satisfy their need to control their actions autonomously and do things competently, which can lead to intrinsic motivation and optimal psychological functioning (Datu, 2021). Increased autonomy when completing an activity may lead to increased competence, leading to improved performance and achievement of goals (Jin & Kim, 2017).

Case study: Ron thinks that running helps him feel like he is independent and good at something. This has helped him develop his running skills and master techniques, which has subsequently led him to be able to succeed at his goal - of winning his age group at the local Parkrun.

Intrinsic motivation

When people have intrinsic motivation, they engage in activities for the inherent satisfaction of completing an activity rather than for rewards or external pressures, and is high in gritty individuals, driving them to seek meaning for their life (Karlen et al., 2019). Intrinsic motivation is associated with increased persistence, recovery after setbacks, and choosing challenging activities (Karlen et al., 2019). A study of Swiss high schoolers found that perseverance of effort was positively aligned with intrinsic motivation, while consistency of interest was negatively associated with extrinsic motivation (Karlen et al., 2019). This suggests that the sub-facets of grit have different pathways motivating people to achieve their goals.

A study of Swiss high schoolers found that perseverance of effort was positively aligned with intrinsic motivation, while consistency of interest was not correlated with intrinsic motivation and was negatively associated with extrinsic motivation (Karlen et al., 2019). The association with perseverance of effort found in this study supports the theory that persevered effort relates to other constructs that contribute to intrinsic motivation, such as the value of learning, self-efficacy beliefs and goal setting (Karlen et al., 2019). In contrast, as consistency of interest was not associated with intrinsic motivation, consistent interests may be less likely to be triggered by a particular interest in a domain and are instead focused on goals and action orientations (Duckworth et al., 2007).

Case study: Ron says that he is excited to get up and go for a run every day because he loves it, not because he wants to win a race or beat a record. Although he likes to go to his local Parkrun and win his age group, he sees inherent satisfaction in running and doesn't do it to win or receive praise.

Mindset

Grit is associated with growth mindsets, which is the belief that abilities can be improved with effort, as development of one trait reinforces the other (Park et al., 2020). Individuals with a growth mindset often exhibit both higher perseverance of effort and greater consistency of interest, and therefore higher grit (Karlen et al., 2019).

To further examine this relationship, Alan and colleagues (2019) developed an educational intervention implemented in elementary school samples, educating children on developing growth mindsets, persevering through failures, and goal setting. This intervention found that students became more likely to exert effort to develop task-specific abilities, leading to success. These results were associated with enduring effects following a follow-up study 2.5 years later.

However, although growth mindsets have been linked to grit, this relationship only has a weak effect on academic achievement (Karlen et al., 2019). This suggests that although believing in your ability to grow is associated with perseverance and consistency, it does not necessarily translate to achievement.

Case study: Ron believes that the reason that he can still run at 90 is not because he is the most talented runner in the world, but is instead because he has worked hard at developing his talent over time. He thinks that he has maintained his health and fitness through hard work and effort throughout his life.

Grit and achievement outcomes

Grit has been associated with achievement in various domains, including health and well-being, academic achievement, professional success and sport. This section will explore how the cognitions and behaviours described earlier in the chapter influence life outcomes in diverse areas.

Health and well-being

Grit is associated with improved long-term health and well-being outcomes, including later-life cognitive performance and life expectancy (Rhodes & Giovannetti, 2022; Kim & Lee, 2015). It is a predictor for participation in high and moderate-intensity exercise, with consistent behaviour leading to the establishment and maintenance of consistent exercise routines (Hein et al., 2020). Psychologically, grit can act as a protective factor against the harms of learned helplessness and moderates the impact of negative life events on suicidal ideation (Datu, 2021).

Academic achievement

Although grit is not correlated with intelligence quotient scores, it has similar predictive validity for overall course results and educational attainment (Park et al., 2020). Longitudinal studies have found that high grit scores are positively correlated with higher cumulative GPAs, negatively correlated to course failure, and associated with higher course completion rates (Hwang et al., 2018). These findings have been replicated in university settings in both Eastern and Western cultural contexts, showing cross-cultural validity (Chen et al., 2018).

Professional outcomes

Grit acts as a predictor of professional success rather than an outcome, being associated with higher labour stability and professional efficacy (Fernández-Martín et al., 2020). Length of work experience is linked to increased levels of grit over time, with gritty individuals being more likely to exert greater effort than their counterparts (Datu, 2021). However, this behaviour may be costly, as these people risk accomplishing fewer duties and staying in a situation that cannot be overcome (Datu, 2021). If this persists over a long time, gritty individuals are at risk of damaging psychological costs due to their grit, especially in contexts where failure is necessary.

Sporting achievements

Grit has been associated with success in sports, promoting the resilience and determination needed for long-term success. It allows individuals to remain focused on long-term goals and success, and has been found to be a more accurate predictor of expert sport development than conscientiousness and self-control. Additionally, consistency of interest has been associated with fewer thoughts of quitting, enabling enduring success in athletic pursuits (Tedesqui & Young, 2018).

Critical debate surrounding grit

Despite the increasing academic research on grit, it has not been found as a consistent predictor for success above and beyond other traits (Credé et al., 2017). Many studies have emphasised the role of perseverance, with inconsistent results found for the importance of passion. As a result, proponents of grit argue there may be a bias in literature towards perseverance, rather than viewing grit as a holistic trait (Jachimowicz et al., 2018).

Comparison to conscientiousness

Grit is strongly correlated with the Big 5 personality trait of conscientiousness (Duckworth et al., 2007). Many critics argue that the association between grit and achievement is mediated largely by conscientiousness, and is largely just conscientiousness viewed through a slightly different theoretical construct (Credé et al., 2017; Jachimowicz et al., 2018). However, grit has a small to medium effect size for predicting life success outcomes above and beyond the effect of conscientiousness (Duckworth et al., 2007; Rhodes and Giovannetti, 2022). This suggests that grit is an independent construct with predictive value despite its close association with conscientiousness, however it must be considered as one part of a larger array of factors that influence achievement.

Importance of other factors

While grit has been associated with success in a range of domains, external factors, such as socioeconomic status and the social environment remain important considerations for achievement (Tang et al., 2019). Those from lower socio-economic backgrounds face significant barriers to achievement, and although grit can help enable achievement, it does not reduce the impact of these factors. Additionally, while a supportive environment can amplify the effects of grit by promoting gritty thoughts and behaviours, grit alone cannot mediate against the challenges of a hostile environment.

Furthermore, grit acts differentially across cultures, promoting different achievement outcomes. While Western, individualistic cultures value individual perseverance and resilience, collectivist cultures emphasise communal efforts and adaptability (Chen et al., 2018). Further research is required to understand how grit manifests across cultures and its importance in promoting achievement outcomes.

Conclusion

Grit is associated with many of the behaviours and cognitive processes that promote achievement, helping to add understanding of what sets high-achieving people apart. It is a trait that encompasses persistent hard work and passion sustained over many years, driving people to continue on the path to achievement, even when there are challenges and setbacks. Gritty individuals are characterised by their unwavering commitment, clear goals, and intrinsic motivation to develop their expertise in a given domain.

However, grit is not the only thing that can explain success. The debate surrounding grit's underlying factors and its strong association with conscientiousness show that there is still further research that must be done to enhance understanding of how and when grit can predict success. Importantly, external factors, including cultural context and socio-economic factors, influence this relationship and the likelihood of someone achieving their goals.

A critical takeaway message from this chapter is that even if it is not a golden ticket to success, the cognitions of gritty individuals influence achievement, providing intrinsic motivation, a growth mindset, and helping them fulfil their basic needs. It helps people set clear goals, participate in deliberate practice, and reinforces the importance of effort throughout the life-span. Although grit is just one of a vast array of factors that determine how a person will behave and how they will succeed throughout their life, embracing the trait can help promote a holistic perspective for personal growth.

References

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Baker, J., & Wattie, N. (2018). Innate talent in sport: Separating myth from reality. Current Issues in Sport Science (CISS), 3, Article 006. https://doi.org/10.36950/CISS_2018.006

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Teimouri, Y., Plonsky, L., & Tabandeh, F. (2022). L2 grit: Passion and perseverance for second-language learning. Language Teaching Research : LTR, 26(5), 893–918. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820921895

External links

Angela Duckworth's TED talk on grit (Duckworth, 2013)
Grit scale (Duckworth, 2023)
Credé et al. (2017) meta-analysis and critique of grit (Credé et al., 2017)
Grit: A complete guide on being mentally tough (Clear, 2023)