EV-0028
The most popular version of this trait does not survive testing
Credé, M., Tynan, M. C., & Harms, P. D. (2017). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(3), 492–511 · Source
What this entitles us to say
A meta-analysis of 584 effect sizes from 88 samples and 66,807 individuals finding that grit's proposed structure is not confirmed, that grit correlates very strongly with conscientiousness, that it relates only moderately to performance and retention, and that interventions to build it are likely to have weak effects.
What it found
584 effect sizes, 88 independent samples, 66,807 individuals.
- The higher-order structure of grit is not confirmed. Its two facets do not hang together as one thing the way the theory says. - Grit is very strongly correlated with conscientiousness — raising the question of whether it is a new construct at all. - Grit relates only moderately to performance and retention. - The perseverance-of-effort facet outperforms the consistency-of-interest facet, and predicts academic performance even after controlling for conscientiousness. - Interventions designed to enhance grit are likely to have weak effects on performance and success.
Why it matters here
Two reasons this belongs in the library despite being about someone else's construct.
First, it is the standard we should be held to. Grit is what happens when a character-adjacent idea is popularized faster than it is validated: a memorable name, a big claim, and a structure that does not hold up when 66,807 people are examined. CDL is building a twelve-trait model and selling it to companies. This paper is the shape of the objection that will eventually be aimed at us, and knowing it is why the assessment work should keep asking whether twelve traits are really twelve things.
Second, it points at the useful half. Perseverance of effort survives the critique and predicts beyond conscientiousness. Consistency of interest does not. For a Discipline module that means teaching sustained effort on a chosen course, not constancy of enthusiasm — a distinction the book's own framing already respects, since it defines Discipline by achieving goals rather than by never changing your mind.
The finding that grit interventions have weak effects also disciplines what this program may claim about its own training. Character can be worked on; that does not license promising measurable trait movement in six months.
The limits
This is a critical meta-analysis and its authors have an argument to make; the grit researchers have responded. It concerns the grit construct specifically, not perseverance in general — and the paper explicitly finds the perseverance-of-effort facet does predict beyond conscientiousness. Much of the underlying research is on academic rather than workplace outcomes.
What we do not say
"Grit is a myth." The perseverance facet holds up and predicts beyond conscientiousness. And this critique cuts toward us as much as away — it should never be used to dismiss a competitor while exempting our own model from the same test.