Educational psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth's theory on grit being the most significant predictor of success is a concept that has gained traction in recent years. Duckworth argues that intelligence and talent, while important, are not the sole determinants of long-term success. Instead, she posits that individuals who exhibit grit, defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, are more likely to achieve their objectives. Duckworth emphasizes that a gritty individual approaches achievements as a marathon, relying on stamina as a key advantage. This essay will explore the extent to which grit determines one's ability to achieve by analyzing the evidence supporting Duckworth's theory, discussing influential figures in the field, and considering various perspectives on the matter. Duckworth's argument that grit plays a crucial role in determining success is supported by various studies and research findings. For example, a study published in the Journal of Psychological Science found that grit was a better predictor of success than talent or intelligence in a variety of contexts. Additionally, Duckworth's own research has demonstrated a strong correlation between grit and achievement in different settings, such as academic performance, sports, and …show more content…
Psychologist Carol Dweck's research on the growth mindset highlights the importance of resilience and determination in the face of challenges. Dweck's work complements Duckworth's theory by emphasizing the role of mindset in achieving one's goals. Similarly, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow suggests that individuals who are fully engaged in challenging tasks are more likely to experience success and fulfillment. These influential figures in the field of psychology provide additional support for the idea that grit is a crucial factor in determining
In Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, she expounds and analyses her studies grit and other attributes that predict success in life. Plenty of good sources have been applied in her book. She linked her own and other people’s real experiences to her studies, collected lots of first-hand material, and cited some results of academic papers and books.
Duckworth defines grit as “having resilience in the face of failure, but also having deep commitments that you remain loyal to over many years.” She went on to discuss how it is not just being smart that makes a person successful but having grit. After listening to the radio conversation, I realized that many people in my life have pushed me to have grit, we just did not know it was called “grit” at the time. For example, my mom always told me it does not matter how smart you are to get in to college and have good grades, what matters having determination and being motivated to do the work. Also, my elementary basketball coach always wanted her players to give 110% in a game. It did not matter whether we had natural talent or not, what mattered was
While those that advocate for grit use it to measure a person’s success, many critics of grit ask if grit alone is the reason for a person’s success. Such critics, like Daniel Engber, a columnist for “Slate”, criticize grit as just rebrands of past ideal. He also criticizes Duckworth’s research, especially her test with the West Point cadets. Engber explains that three-fourths of students that fail West Point usually failed after completing the “Beast” and that her study was just a special case. Other factors, then grit could have been the reason some of those students failed out of West Point, even then those students must have been on top of them to get that far at West Point. This comes to another argument against grit, environment. Daniel Denby, a writer for “The New Yorker”, comments how grit can be affected by the environment and opportunities a child is given. If a child grows up with having a real challenge in their life, either due to poor parenting or their environment than when faced with challenges in life they will not know how to handle it because they faced it before. In addition, Denby argues by growing up in harsh neighborhoods grit becomes harder for children. In poorer neighborhoods, toughing it through such harsh environments can
Therapist introduced the educational lecture this morning topic Mental Toughness revised the Grit perspective. Grit almost perfectly describes qualities every successful person possesses, because mental toughness builds the foundations for long-term success. For example, successful people are great at delaying gratification. Successful people are great at withstanding temptation. Successful people are great at overcoming fear in order to do what they need to do. Of course, that doesn't mean they aren't scared--that does mean they're brave. Big difference. Successful people don't just prioritize. They consistently keep doing what they have decided is most important. All those qualities require mental strength and toughness--so it's no
Success is essential when it comes to a student’s academic career because it helps them graduate even better themselves. Success can impact a student in many different ways and different concepts, such as pushing them to believe in themselves or reading or math or science, can help a student to be successful. The two of which can be “grit” and the concepts of growth and a fixed mindset. Grit is vital to the success of a student because they learn how to persevere in a long term goal. Fixed and growth mindset can impact a student’s success because it either help or hinder them in any subject such as science or physical education.
Having grit is crucial to succeeding and achieving goals, such as school; some experts say that student that have grit are even more successful than those who are more intelligent and do not have grit. Accordingly, grit can be connected to my life, the arts, and the world in a variety of ways. To begin, the key to success, as explained by Angela Lee Duckworth, is grit; I have shown grit in my life when I had created a long-term goal to become better at tennis and persevered through it. To me, grit is the perseverance and dedication over a long period of time, no matter how strenuous the goal may be. To people’s disappointment, grit is not a caste system; it is not something you are born into or born with, but it is something that you grasp as life throws you obstacles to overcome.
Throughout Grit, Angela Duckworth argues that grit is the single most important factor in determining success of an individual. She splits the argument into three parts: the concept of grit and why it matters, the proper use and understanding of the goal hierarchy, and how an individual can develop grit. Duckworth’s argument is important because it replaces the traditional viewpoint of success being determined by talent to one which sees success as a result of passion and perseverance.
Duckworth discerned that high IQ did not equate high academic achievement. Conversely, high IQ students did not score as well as those with average IQ. The study focused on successful individuals through a motivational or psychological perspective. Furthermore, it examined the drop-out rates and reasons of WestPoint Military School, National Spelling Bee contestants, the effectiveness novice teachers working in rough neighbourhoods, and the salaries and sales of company employees. Consequently, it was discovered that the common characteristic of the individuals who were most successful was grit. Grit is defined as “passion or perseverance to achieve a very long-term goal.” It could also be said that
One characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success, was grit. Angela Lee Duckworth ran multiple tests on kids and adults in different settings, and people with grit were more likely to succeed. On the first page, it explains, “I started studying kids and adults in all kinds of super challenging settings, and in every study my question was, who is successful here and why?” She goes on to explain that, “In all those very different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn’t social intelligence. It wasn’t good looks, physical health, and it wasn’t IQ. It was grit. What she means by this is that she took kids and adults in some pretty challenging situations and tested them. The best results came from the people with the most grit.
Although having an unlimited intellectual ability and talent is something to significantly strive for in life, however, grit differs in the way achievements is accomplished. Grit is having the passion for what goals that he or she is trying to achieve. In addition to having passion grit is also having the courage, the perseverance, and the flexibility in having long term goals. With grit there is a growth mindset, where learning can be transformed with some effort in children as well as adults. For example, a person may not be highly intelligent, but he continues to improve on himself until he reaches his long term goal. He is willing to fail and attempt to work at it again and again until he reaches his goal. Nevertheless, there are some
The TEDTalk that Angela Lee Duckworth gave on grit and perseverance was thought-provoking, but lacking in substance. Her assertion that grit is the best predictor of success is hardly groundbreaking, and she provided mostly anecdotal evidence to support her claim.
Grit is a trait that is difficult to observe in today’s individuals. If you wanted something and persevere in spite of your mistakes, that persistence would be grit. For many though, grit appears unnecessary for success; however, it can be essential to achieving your dream and goals. It requires commitment, motivation, and hard work to complete a long-term objective, and grit is what allows you to do it. Although the term is not as mentioned, you have probably heard of it through either terms of perseverance or courage. Despite this, it does not lack significance, and it tests the endurance of lazy and strong people. True backbone can allow nearly everyone to attain a flourishing lifestyle.With grit, you can accomplish your goals no matter the circumstances.
In the article True Grit By Angela Lee Duckworth and Lauren Eskreis-Winkler explain a few important factors of studies that show how grit is associated with success. Grit is the only key that can help college students overcome many obstacles in life and maintain the interest
Have you ever set a long-term goal and were so determined to meet that goal no matter what happened? Angela Duckworth states, “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in and day out. Not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years and working really hard to make that future a reality”. Sticking with a long-term goal, when you seem to have hit every bump in the road possible means that you contain grit. In class, we discussed how talent is inversely related to grit. Angela Duckworth did a study and made high school students take her grit test. In this test, she realized that the more grit that the student possessed, the higher chance that student would graduate.
Angela Duckworth was a seventh-grade teacher in New York Public Schools, and became a psychologist. She is the author of the TED Talk “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance”. The main point of this TED Talk is that having grit is what will help you to succeed in life. She asks herself, who is successful and why, and she concluded that people who succeed in life are those who have grit, which is the passion and perseverance to achieve every long-term goal. She emphasized that talent or social intelligent is not what will lead you to succeed, but the key that will help you to succeed are passion and perseverance. Those who can stick with their future goals for years and work hard to make that future a reality is more likely to succeed. Moreover, she explained in her speech that growth mindset is great for building grit, which based on the TED Talk people who have a growth mindset are those people that do not believe that failure is a permanent condition. In my point of view those people who have growth mindset are more likely to be successful in life.