Indeed if there is one personal quality that is beneficial across all realms, aspects of life, and varying situations, it is that of GRIT. In recent years, the idea and implications of grit have risen drastically in popularity. From how children are being raised to workplace success and, of course, athletic performance, the presence and instilling of grit has been discovered to be of pivotal importance. But, what exactly is “grit”? Dr. Angela Duckworth, author of the book with the title none other than “GRIT”, is regarded as the pioneer of grit research. She defines the trait of grit to be, “self-discipline, combined with a passionate commitment to a task and a burning desire to see it through.” With just that definition alone one can gauge why this quality can be so beneficial to anyone in any situation.
Grit, from a conceptual perspective, is great but does the science back up its perceived importance? That is what Duckworth set out to discover. One of the most exemplary parts of her studies on grit came when she discovered part of Army West Point’s training program for cadets – a seven-week regimen referred to as “Beast Barracks.” Despite West Point’s rigorous standards and screening for entry, they still managed to lose a significant number of cadets to this course. When the going got tough, some would stop going. Duckworth, with her knowledge of grit, decided to put the trait to the test here. She administered a survey she called the Grit Scale to all of the cadets. More than any other measure, score on the grit scale correlated to who would persevere and who wouldn’t make it through Beast Barracks. Those with a low grit score were the most likely to drop out. If this could be applicable to some of the toughest people in the United States, where else could grit predict success or failure? Duckworth found this correlation in spelling bee contestants, new teachers in adverse school systems, successful businessmen and women, and athletes.
Although all of the individual components that factor into grit are up for debate, and likely yet to be discovered entirely, there are some general breakdowns. The first one forms a very easy acronym to memorize - GRIT. This stands for: goals, resiliency, integrity, and tenacity. You can’t express grit without goals. Grit is expressed in response to trying to achieve something, whether it be something simple like a baseball player in a big game determined to put the ball in play against a tough pitcher or something more long-term and complex like a high school athlete whose main goal is to go to college on an athletic scholarship. It’s hard to express passion and commitment toward something you have no goals for. Resiliency is described right there in Duckworth’s definition of grit, “…a burning desire to see it through.” It doesn’t matter what obstacles are thrown in the way, a gritty individual will make it to the end no matter what. In terms of athletes, that is a huge personal characteristic to have. The last type of player a coach wants is a quitter. A big part of coaching today, especially at the collegiate level, is intentionally presenting players with adversity. This acts both to test their players, but also to start instilling this quality into them, which also proves to show that grit, although some people inherently contain the trait, can be taught and learned. Adversity, not just confined to sports, helps to breed a sense of grittiness in athletes. You hear about it all the time with great athletes - the coming from nothing story. Conceptually, there should be no reason why a child from an impoverished family that couldn’t afford equipment for him or her to play should grow up to be a better athlete than the one who came from a wealthy family in a sports-driven neighborhood who has been having private training paid for since a young age. There is something to be said for adversity and how an individual responds to it. The next component of GRIT is integrity, and this is where the “passionate” and “burning desire” portions of grit’s definition come in. You can see it plastered in teams’ locker rooms everywhere, a sign that says, “Integrity: it’s what you do when no one is watching.” Sometimes, in order for an athlete to achieve his or her goals, they have to do a lot more than is asked of them. You won’t see a grit-less player staying late after basketball practice to take 50 free throws or showing up at the field early to do some footwork drills. Lastly, there is tenacity which could be the cornerstone of grit. How bad do you want it and how hard are you willing to work to get there? This is also another highly desirable trait for coaches to have in their players. Intense, hard-working players are usually the leaders on teams and those that teams are built around.
Now it definitely takes a certain type of person to express grit. Like mentioned earlier, some seem to be born with it, some acquire it through development in response to adversity, and some are taught it later on. The gritty individuals, and especially the gritty athletes, likely share some common personality characteristics. Of the Big 5 personality traits, conscientiousness likely tops the list in those high on the grit scale, as one of the markers of the trait is goal-directed behaviors. However, as grit does seem to be such a desirable trait to have, a study done on Taiwanese high school students found that 4 of the Big 5 personality traits were significant predictors of grit, all of them in the positive direction of expression, at least for athletes.1 High levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and intellect/imagination (a common substitute for openness) were predictors of grit, with conscientiousness being the strongest, as well as low levels of neuroticism. Also, as noted earlier that adversity can breed grit, we can double-down on openness as it has been found to be the most stable trait in those who have faced adversity in development from childhood to adulthood.2
Lastly, there is certainly some underlying neurological mechanisms at play, as well, when it comes to grit. A complex trait like grit, which clearly is the sum of multiple other traits and characteristics, does not simply appear and manifest itself in people. It takes time and repetitive action and response to mold grit into its distinct form. The human brain thrives off of patterns, hence why practice makes perfect and habits can be formed. The more we do something, the more connections our brain makes down at the smallest level of the neuron and eventually these build up and add to new, effective pathways. Obviously, this is not happening consciously and, although there are aspects of the entire brain playing into this, the limbic system plays a highly important role. The hypothalamus, hippocampus, and the limbic cortex (prefrontal cortex) are likely the big players. The hypothalamus is a small area with a big importance, as it receives a lot of input from different parts of the brain and is one of the most important output centers. The hippocampus plays a huge role in memory. Not only does this directly allow for the formation of pathways over learned responses, but it is a big part of the goal-directedness of grit, serving as a reminder of the athlete’s “why.” Lastly, the prefrontal cortex is big for both personality and complex behaviors such as planning, judgment, and motivation – all of which have big time implications in grit. The limbic cortex is also a big area for connectedness to the rest of the brain, so it receives input and immediately sends output based on learned behaviors and, especially, conditioned emotional responses. So, in athletes who have grown and thrived off of adversity, positively utilizing it to manifest in the form of grit, the prefrontal cortex is doing the main job of responding to new adverse situations. Because these positive, gritty pathways have been molded over time, its response will be fight and get through it as opposed to a flight response such as quitting or settling with failing. Strengthening the prefrontal cortex through meditation helps hit a critical “pause” on the amygdala’s triggering physiological and hormonal response to stress.
Grit is a complex trait that can only be beneficial across the board. High level athletes express it and coaches specifically seek out gritty players. Dr. Duckworth has even worked with professional coaches like Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks on how to find gritty players and how to further develop grit in his players. Like that shows, one of the most encouraging aspects of grit is that, unlike some other traits that are either present in people or not, it can be taught at various stages of life and can be improved upon. You can practice grit just as you can practice the physical aspects of performance, and as such, it should be a focal point for any athlete.
References:
1. Chang, Chun-Yen C.Y. & Lin, Che-Li. (2017). Personality and Family Context in Explaining Grit of Taiwanese High School Students. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education13(6): 2197 – 2213.
2. Shiner, Rebecca L.; Allen, Timothy A. & Masten, Ann S. (2017). Adversity in adolescence predicts personality trait change from childhood to adulthood. Journal of Research in Personality67: 171-182.