Blog
Grit, Self-Control and Conscientiousness
Angela Duckworth has added to the Positive Psychology field by researching and coining the term “Grit”. This concept is often misunderstood or confused with other well known concepts such as “Self-control” & “Conscientiousness”.
Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals.
One way to think about grit is to consider what grit is not. It is not talent, luck, or how intensely, for the moment, you want something.
Instead, grit is about having an “ultimate concern” – a goal you care about so much that it organizes and gives meaning to almost everything you do. It is holding steadfast to that goal, even when you fall down, make mistakes, or when your progress in reaching that goal is frustratingly slow or fraught with obstacles.
Although talent and luck matter to success it is by no means a guarantee of grit. Angela is of the opinion that in the very long run grit may matter as least as much, if not more than talent.
Self-control and conscientiousness
Self-control and conscientiousness are related to Grit. Someone demonstrating high self-control or high conscientiousness is also likely to score high in grit. Although close relatives they are, actually, rather different. Grit predicts achieving challenging goals even when these other characteristics are held constant. Thus, according to Angela, grit is a more reliable predictor of making it through the first, tough summer of West Point military training than either self-control or conscientiousness.
The existence of grit as well as the development thereof are important concepts and traits not only for adults but also of particular importance to children.
This is the grit message in Angela’s words: Grit may not be sufficient for success, but it sure is necessary. If we want our children to have a shot at a productive and satisfying life, we adults should make it our concern to provide them with the two things all children deserve: challenges to exceed what they were able to do yesterday and the support that makes that growth possible.
Grit is passion & perseverance for long-term goals.
Should you be interested in more information on this topic please go to https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/learn/grit for more information. We also recommend the following 2 papers explaining grit and other positive psychological components in more detail.
These articles are:
