New research on the personality trait of grit revealed that individuals with higher levels of grit had distinct patterns of cognitive performance, but not necessarily increased cognitive performance.

These results were published online in PLOS ONE today by Nuria Aguerre of the University of Granada in Spain and coworkers.

Someone with grit is one who, despite facing adversity, continues to work hard toward achieving their long-term goals. The Grit Scale is a commonly used evaluation tool by researchers to measure it. Previous studies have hinted that there might be a link between grit and some parts of cognitive functioning, but no studies have looked at this relationship directly.

To learn more, Aguerre and colleagues had 134 people fill out questionnaires measuring grit, impulsiveness, and mindfulness. Four additional experimental computer-based tasks were also completed by the participants to assess various aspects of cognitive ability, such as flexibility, inhibition, and the capacity to replace outdated items in one’s working memory—which temporarily stores information—with more recent, relevant ones, and the control mode tendency.

Results from the questionnaire and experiments showed that persons with greater grit scores were not always more intelligent than those with lower grit scores, contradicting the researchers’ hypotheses. In contrast, grit was statistically associated with the personality qualities of low impulsivity and high mindfulness, both of which are connected to self-regulation. This finding is consistent with previous studies.

Participants with high levels of grit did display altered patterns of cognitive performance, albeit statistically to a smaller extent. The researchers said that this cognitive profile showed cautious control, which means that the person was better able to pay attention to all available information and stay aware of conflicting information in the present while relying less on information from the past.

Overall, these data imply that grit may be characterized by various patterns of cognitive ability, not necessarily greater ability. This fits with ideas that other researchers have already put forward. The researchers say that this study is exploratory and suggest that future research could go deeper, such as by including a more complete measure of grit and by also looking at a cognitive ability called “fluid intelligence”.

The authors write:

“To crown the top of the mountain you do not need very good executive functions. You should be aware of the environment instead.”

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