Grit Fuels the Cognitive Engine on the Road to Success

Have you ever had the feeling that some of your relatives, classmates, or coworkers seem to never do well when challenged, while others seem to always reach their goals? What do successful people have in common? Cognition is often thought to play a leading role in achieving one’s academic or career goals. More specifically, a limited set of cognitive skills measured by IQ tests and known as “crystallized intelligence” is believed to be associated with academic and professional success. However, environmental conditions (for instance, socio-economic background or peer support) might shape our skillset and influence success in a given path.

The view that cognition is not the only trait that leads to achievement is not new. In the middle of the 19th century, Darwin assumed that intelligence -although helpful- had a limited contribution to success in humans. He wrote:

“I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work; and I still think this is an eminently important difference”

- Charles Darwin

In other words, Darwin already assumed that attitude was a main determinant of success, especially "grit", defined as “the passion and perseverance for long-term goals of personal significance”. But it was not until recently that grit has entered into the spotlight in educational science and psychology.  Angela Duckworth and her colleagues were the first to develop a “grit-scale” in 2007[1]  and later evidenced the role of grit in several contexts including the workplace and the military[2].  

A recent study[3]  by the same research group now reveals that grit influences success among a large sample of students admitted to a highly demanding military academy. The study involved about 10,000 cadets of the US Military Academy at West Point. As part of the admission process, students completed tests of achievement and physical abilities. On arrival at the military academy, admitted students additionally completed tests of cognitive abilities and questionnaires, including the grit-scale.

Scientists then determined how grit contributed to the following measures of achievement: grade point average in the military, academic and physical domains, graduation after 4 years, and completion of an intensive military training that all students have to take at the beginning of the program. While cognitive abilities best predicted academic grades, grit was more important than physical and cognitive abilities for the completion of the demanding entry military training and for completion of the 4-year program. This study shows that in a real-world context, grit contributes over and above cognitive and physical abilities to the achievement of both short and long-term goals.

It is true that this research involved an atypical population of extremely bright college students. Does grit make a difference only among the most successful people, or under the most difficult circumstances? Would grit still contribute at all to achievement in younger people? As it turns out, scientists have also found that grit influences achievement at an earlier age. For example, differences in grit partly explain how much middle-school students improve in math and reading from the beginning to the end of the year[4].

This latter evidence leads to new questions: Is grit naturally present in some individuals? Can it be developed? Scientists have found that grit is most often found in people who have a “growth mindset”: the belief that one’s skills are not fixed but can grow with practice. If you believe you can improve your skill, you can work hard, be persistent, and try again after failure. Alternatively, if you view your skill as fixed (e.g. some individuals are “smart” and others are not) and not improvable with practice, you don’t show as much grit. Growth mindset was first described by Carol Dweck from the Stanford department of psychology[5]. Importantly, the belief that one’s skill can change generalizes to a wide range of disciplines, and interventions in the classroom can help students develop their growth mindset, which ultimately benefits academic outcomes[4, 6, 7].

Nonetheless, how growth mindset and grit interact with one-another is not fully understood.  Is it possible to have a growth mindset but not show grit? Does grit play a role in turning a fixed mindset into a growth mindset? Despite uncertainties about the constructs of grit and growth mindset[8], it is now clear that the awareness that one’s skills be can improved has the potential to benefit learning outcomes in a wide range of domains, for students of different ages and socio-cultural backgrounds. Thus, growth mindset seems to be a promising tool for academic success.

More generally, growth mindset and grit seem crucial to take up challenges. Everyone has to develop their own recipe for success, but you can start with the following one: challenge yourself to achieve something that you care about. Cultivate your growth mindset, reminding yourself that your brain can change with experience and practice. Add some grit to the mix. If you don’t succeed at your first attempt: try, try again!

Edited by: Arielle Keller

References

1.  Duckworth, A.L., et al., Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007. 92(6): p. 1087-1101.

2.  Eskreis-Winkler, L., et al., The grit effect: predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage. Frontiers in Psychology, 2014. 5(36).

3. Duckworth, A.L., et al., Cognitive and noncognitive predictors of success. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019. 116(47): p. 23499-23504.

4.  Good, C., J. Aronson, and M. Inzlicht, Improving adolescents' standardized test performance: An intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2003. 24(6): p. 645-662.

5.  Dweck, C.S. and E.L. Leggett, A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 1988. 95(2): p. 256-273.

6.  Aronson, J., C.B. Fried, and C. Good, Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2002. 38(2): p. 113-125.

7.  Blackwell, L.S., K.H. Trzesniewski, and C.S. Dweck, Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Child Development, 2007. 78(1): p. 246-263.

8.  Tang, X., et al., Building Grit: The Longitudinal Pathways between Mindset, Commitment, Grit, and Academic Outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2019. 48(5): p. 850-863.