The grit effect: predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage

By Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, E. P. Shulman, Scott A. Beal, Angela L. Duckworth. 2013

803 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Remaining committed to goals is necessary (albeit not sufficient) to attaining them, but very little is known about domain-general individual differences that contribute to sustained goal commitment. The current investigation examines the association between grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, other individual difference variables, and retention in four different contexts: the military, workplace sales, high school, and marriage. Grit predicted retention over and beyond established context-specific predictors of retention (e.g., intelligence, physical aptitude, Big Five personality traits, job tenure) and demographic variables in each setting. Grittier soldiers were more likely to complete an Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) selection course, grittier sales employees were more likely to keep their jobs, grittier students were more likely to graduate from high school, and grittier men were more likely to stay married. The relative predictive validity of grit compared to other traditional predictors of retention is examined in each of the four studies. These findings suggest that in addition to domain-specific influences, there may be domain-general individual differences which influence commitment to diverse life goals over time.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Social Psychology

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Clinical Psychology

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Does Grit Influence Sport-Specific Engagement and Perceptual-Cognitive Expertise in Elite Youth Soccer? (2016, background): “…from military training programs (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009; EskreisWinkler, Shulman, Beal, & Duckworth, 2014), more likely to keep their jobs (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014), and more likely to stay married (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014); grittier spellers engaged more time in deliberate…”
When the going gets tough: Grit predicts costly perseverance (2015, background): “Research suggests that, in spite of completing fewer items on timed tasks, gritty people surpass their less gritty counterparts in education and employment settings (Duckworth et al., 2007, 2009, 2011; Eskreis-winkler et al., 2014; Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014).”
Much Ado About Grit: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Grit Literature (2017, background): “Empirical findings on the direction and strength of the relation between grit scores and demographic variables such as age (e.g., Engel, 2013, Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014), gender (e.g., Allen, 2014; Davidson, 2014), and ethnicity (e.g., Chang, 2014; Eskreis-Winkler, Shulman, & Duckworth, 2014)…”
Grit and Determination: A Review of Literature With Implications for Theory and Research (2016, background): “…various academic outcomes such as academic achievement (Duckworth et al., 2007), academic engagement (Datu et al., 2015, 2016), and academic motivation (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014), but more studies are now needed to determine the psychological beneﬁts of grit in various socio-cultural milieus.”
L2 grit: Passion and perseverance for second-language learning (2020, background): “The findings of other studies have established positive associations between grit and well-being (e.g. Datu et al., 2015), marriage commitment (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014), happiness (Von Culin, Tsukayama, & Duckworth, 2014), flourishing (Datu et al., 2016, Lake, 2013), emotional stability (Credé…”
What Shall We Do About Grit? A Critical Review of What We Know and What We Don’t Know (2018, neutral): “Luckily there is a sophisticated and growing literature that discusses the types of evidence that researchers should marshal when making the argument for a higher order construct such as grit. For example, Johnson, Rosen, Chang, Djurdevic, and Taing (2012) describe seven types of evidence that shoul”
Teacher Effects on Complex Cognitive Skills and Social-Emotional Competencies (2017, background): “Grittier soldiers were more likely to complete an Army Special Operations Forces selection course, grittier sales employees were more likely to keep their jobs, and grittier students were more likely to graduate from high school, conditional on a range of covariates (Eskreis-Winkler et al. 2014).”
Grit and Different Aspects of Well-Being: Direct and Indirect Relationships via Sense of Coherence and Authenticity (2016, background): “2014); remaining married (Eskreis-Winkler et al. 2014); and continuing with an exercise routine (Reed et al.”
The role of grit and classroom enjoyment in EFL learners’ willingness to communicate (2020, positive): “2007, 2011) and domain-general areas (e.g. school and marriage; Aparicio, Bacao, and Oliveira 2017; Eskreis-Winkler et al. 2014; Robertson-Kraft and Duckworth 2014).”
Associations Between Grit, Motivation, and Achievement in High School Students (2017, background): “…has examined the extent to which grit predicts achievement when controlling for a general “school motivation” construct in a high school sample (e.g., Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014, Study 3), no studies have investigated grit’s relation to and prediction of grades above and beyond specific,…”
Grit, Basic Needs Satisfaction, and Subjective Well-Being (2017, background): “Th is a rti cl e is in te nd ed so le ly fo r t he p er so na l u se o f t he in di vi du al u se r a nd is n ot to b e di ss em in at ed (Duckworth, Quinn, & Seligman, 2009; Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014).”