Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature.

Abstract

Grit has been presented as a higher order personality trait that is highly predictive of both success and performance and distinct from other traits such as conscientiousness. This paper provides a meta-analytic review of the grit literature with a particular focus on the structure of grit and the relation between grit and performance, retention, conscientiousness, cognitive ability, and demographic variables. Our results based on 584 effect sizes from 88 independent samples representing 66,807 individuals indicate that the higher order structure of grit is not confirmed, that grit is only moderately correlated with performance and retention, and that grit is very strongly correlated with conscientiousness. We also find that the perseverance of effort facet has significantly stronger criterion validities than the consistency of interest facet and that perseverance of effort explains variance in academic performance even after controlling for conscientiousness. In aggregate our results suggest that interventions designed to enhance grit may only have weak effects on performance and success, that the construct validity of grit is in question, and that the primary utility of the grit construct may lie in the perseverance facet. (PsycINFO Database Record

Grit, Mindset, and Academic Performance: A Study of Pre-University Science Students

“…Mindset interventions were non-significant for adolescents and regular students. In another recent meta-analysis (Credé, Tynan, & Harms, 2017) looking at the relationships between grit and performance, retention, and student characteristics such as personality factors, cognitive ability, including 548 effects sizes representing more than 66,000 individuals, the authors were not able to confirm the grit factor structure. Perseverance of effort had significantly stronger criterion validity compared to consistency of effort.…”

Review of Grit and Resilience Literature within Health Professions Education

“…However, the wider body of literature indicates there is a list of other measurable constructs that overlap, such as perseverance, mindset, self-control, mindfulness, selfefficacy, conscientiousness, etc. 58 It could be that other constructs may be better suited for what we really want to know. From a research standpoint, analysis of grit and resilience is complex because the terms themselves are conceptually weak, overlap with other constructs and terms, and are often misapplied in the literature.…”

Planfulness: A Process-Focused Construct of Individual Differences in Goal Achievement

“…Among the Big Five personality traits, conscientiousness is predictive of successful outcomes in a variety of domains, including academics (Noftle & Robbins, 2007), health (Roberts, Walton, & Bogg, 2005), and work performance (Dudley, Orvis, Lebiecki, & Cortina, 2006). Grit, a trait describing one's degree of sustained effort toward long-term pursuits, is also associated with measures of academic success, including undergraduate GPA and National Spelling Bee ranking (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007); grit is strongly associated with conscientiousness (Credé, Tynan, & Harms, 2016). These findings, amongst others (Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, 2007;Shiner, Masten, & Roberts, 2004), suggest that it is critical not to overlook the role of individual differences in considering the likelihood of successfully reaching a goal.…”