What is it?

Grit: firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger

Grit is a trait possessed by individuals who demonstrate passion and perseverance towards long-term and meaningful goals no matter what obstacles get in their way. Without passion, perseverance leads to burnout and without perseverance, we give up.

History of Grit:

Grit as a concept was first developed by psychologist Angela Duckworth in her paper, “Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” published in 2007. Duckworth and her co-authors defined Grit as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” Their study found that completing the goals was crucial, but also maintaining consistent effort over time to achieve the goal. Grit, according to her paper, is working on challenges despite “failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress.” In addition, according to “Grit: A Short History of a Useful Concept” by Ethan W. Ris, who also took a look at Duckworth’s paper found that “Grittiness” has a minimal amount of correlation with IQ. They reported that Grit was developed to answer how low-income students can “claw their way out of poverty” by developing grit. Ethan W. Ris’s paper claims that Duckworth’s research is not the first time Grit was discussed. They claim that Grit was not developed to discuss low-income students but instead discussed as a way that privileged individuals can build character. In conclusion, the paper calls the relationship between Grit and poor children a romanticized conversation because it celebrates hardship, and that the origins of Grit can be pointed to well-off parents wanting their children to go through hardships to develop Grit to “counteract the shortcomings of their own children.”

Developing Grit in Students:

The paper “Developing Grit In Our Students: Why Grit is Such a Desirable Trait, and Practical Strategies for Teachers and Schools,” discusses methods in which to encourage and develop Grit. The paper discusses how children who receive praise for their intelligence in reality harm their motivation and performance because the boost of confidence they receive is momentarily. After all, once they fail they will believe they are dumb. After all, they have correlated success with intelligence. The paper proposes the idea that children need a growth mindset to become gritter thinking “I can get better if I try harder” will lead to a more Grittier person. In addition, the paper lists specific actions to increase perseverance in students, constantly remind students how valuable attitude and persistence is for success in life, turn problems into a picture or puzzle, give small problems that students can easily solve, explain the relevance of the problem, place students in communities because they solve problems best in cooperation with others, make it a game or competition, and reward hard work and completion in the end.

Downside of Grit:

Grit is a difficult thing to teach. Grit is not something that people are born with yet are expected to have such a trait in school and life. Grit requires passion to actually work. Without passion, burnout occurs and without grit, we give up.

Grit can become problematic in the long run when perseverance continues past necessity to a point where it can affect one’s mental health negatively. Emotions can be widely affected because people with high levels of grit usually suppress their emotions for prolonged periods which can lead to depression, anxiety and negative emotions.

Grit can also turn into stubbornness where gritty individuals continue to work at a difficult problem until it harms them. They might not accept failure and push themselves further into an solvable situation.

“Grit or stubbornness depends on how you perceive the situation. Different side of the same coin.” (Lucas, Gale)