Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance: Suggested Resources

Objective(s) To use self‐control and self‐determination theories in a grit model with self‐control as a mediator of autonomous learning and well‐being. Method A cross‐sectional online survey using a convenience sampling approach was employed to recruit 511 university students (70.6% female) with an average age of 25. Results Grit was positively related to self‐control, autonomous learning, and grade point average (GPA). Additionally, self‐control had a mediated effect on the relationship between grit and autonomous learning, and between grit and well‐being. Conclusions Findings offer insights on the role of self‐control in enhancing autonomous learning and GPA among gritty students. Implications are also offered for research and practice in higher education settings. Practitioner Points Students with higher levels of grit reported higher autonomous learning and self‐control. Self‐control mediated the relationship between students' grit and autonomous learning. Self‐control served as a mediator between students' grit and well‐being.

Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, and Kelly (2007) defined grit as one's passion and perseverance toward long-term goals. They proposed that it consists of 2 components: consistency of interests and perseverance of effort. In a high school and college student sample, we used a multidimensional item response theory approach to examine (a) the factor structure of grit, and (b) grit's relations to and overlap with conceptually and operationally similar constructs in the personality, self-regulation, and engagement literatures, including self-control, conscientiousness, cognitive self-regulation, effort regulation, behavioral engagement, and behavioral disaffection. A series of multiple regression analyses with factor scores was used to examine (c) grit's prediction of end-of-semester course grades. Findings indicated that grit's factor structure differed to some degree across high school and college students. Students' grit overlapped empirically with their concurrently reported self-control, self-regulation, and engagement. Students' perseverance of effort (but not their consistency of interests) predicted their later grades, although other self-regulation and engagement variables were stronger predictors of students' grades than was grit.

We investigated grit and its relations with students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) and academic achievement. An ethnically diverse sample of 213 college students completed an online self-report survey that included the Grit Short scale (Duckworth and Quinn Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 166–174, 2009 ), seven indicators of SRL and their past and present academic achievement. Results indicated that one aspect of grit, perseverance of effort, was a consistent and adaptive predictor for all indicators of SRL including value, self-efficacy, cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, time and study environment management strategies, and procrastination. A second aspect of grit, consistency of interest, was associated only with the latter two facets of SRL. Perseverance of effort predicted achievement before, but not after, accounting for SRL; hence, students’ engagement in SRL may serve as a mediating pathway through which this aspect of grit is associated with improved academic outcomes. In contrast, consistency of interest showed no relation to achievement. Implications of the findings for additional research and instruction are discussed.

Admissions professionals have historically relied on measures of cognitive ability and academic achievement to make decisions about which applicants are admitted to their institutions. At the very least, selection on the basis of these factors (high school grades and standardized test scores) alone potentially decreases ethnic and socioeconomic diversity and underestimates the likelihood of success for many capable students. As a result of the shortcomings of these traditional measures, there is a growing interest in supplementing them with non-cognitive predictors of college success. New developments in the field of positive psychology may be especially well positioned to contribute with contemporary constructs and scale development. This article describes "grit" as consistsing of two separate dimensions: consistency of interest and perseverance of effort. The gritty individual pursues a given goal over years. Although non-cognitive factors and grit specifically show promising in predicting college success, many questions still remain. This article investigates the research questions: (1) Do self-reported grit scores predict first year GPA, as well as additional outcome variables including hours earned toward graduation and change in major? (2) Do informant-reported grit scores predict first year GPA, as well as additional outcome variables including hours earned toward graduation and change in major? (3) What is the relationship between self and informant grit scores?

Malleable, noncognitive psychological factors such as grit and resilience are seen as critical for academic success and have garnered significant attention from researchers and policymakers. However, there is nontrivial overlap between these two constructs, and it remains unclear whether grit, resilience, or both, constitute the optimal target(s) for retention research and intervention development. The purpose of this study was to compare how grit and resilience predict retention in a diverse, multicollege sample of U.S. undergraduates (N = 4,023) with and without a history of academic probation. When looking across all students, structural equation modeling indicated that perseverance of effort (Grit-PE) positively predicted Fall 2016 enrollment. However, when examining probation and nonprobation groups separately, only resilience significantly predicted enrollment for students with probation histories. In contrast, Grit-PE predicted enrollment only for students without probation histories, while consistency of interest (Grit-CI) did not predict enrollment for either probation group. Findings held when controlling for race, gender identity, years in college, first-generation status, and institutional selectivity. Results suggest that resilience, not grit, predicts retention for those students who face the greatest setbacks in completing college. Educational Impact and Implications StatementThis study found that college students who have been on probation are more likely to remain enrolled if they have higher levels of resilience. In contrast, students who have not been on probation are more likely to remain enrolled if they have higher levels of grit. This suggests that while grit may be helpful to students who are not struggling, resilience is a better target for interventions and research designed to help students who struggle the most in completing college.

There is significant interest in grit and resilience throughout the health professions, but little has been published with regard to pharmacy. Although there are methodological issues with defining and measuring grit and resilience, several studies have shown relationships between the constructs and personal and academic well-being. Educational interventions aimed at increasing grit and resilience have produced mixed results. Developing protective factors appears to be the most common approach in helping students become more resilient.