Academic Performance: The Role of Grit Compared to Short and Comprehensive Inventories of Conscientiousness. Issue 5 (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hagen, Fredrik Stølan; Solem, Stian
• Is Part Of: Social psychological & personality science. Volume 12:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 667
• Page End: 675
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: grit -- conscientiousness -- GPA -- academic performance; Personality -- Periodicals; Social psychology -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 155.2
• DOI: 10.1177/1948550620933421
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1948-5506

Abstract

Grit has been suggested as a predictor of academic success over and above established constructs like conscientiousness (C) but has only been compared to brief inventories of trait-level C. This study examined the difference between using a brief inventory of C (Big Five Inventory [BFI]) and a facet-level inventory (NEO Personality Inventory–Revised [NEO PI-R]) as controls for grit in an undergraduate sample ( N = 1, 394). Grit exhibited strong correlations with C, particularly the facets of self-discipline and achievement striving. When BFI was used, both grit and C added small increments in explained variance while controlling for each other. When NEO PI-R was used, grit could not explain any additional variance in university grade and minuscule amounts (4%) in high school grade. Facets of C added moderate amounts (16%–54%) of incremental variance to both university and high school grades when controlling for grit. The results demonstrated that different outcomes are to be expected depending upon the choice of C measure.