The Relationship between Growth Mindset, Grit, and Academic Achievement: Does Goal Commitment Matter?

Author(s)

Abass Adamu , Osei Gideon Opoku ,

Download Full PDF Pages: 26-32 | Views: 653 | Downloads: 209 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5036471

Volume 9 - December 2020 (12)

Abstract

This present study's consisted of Ghanaian junior high school adolescents, precisely JHS1 and JHS 2. The study duration spanned from January 2019 to October 2020. During the study period, two assessments were done. In the first assessment, primary six students consisting of 425 adolescents, were assessed from 35 schools. During the year 2019, students in primary six who partook in the first assessment were engaged when they had been promoted to Junior high school. They included students who had become part of the classroom experiment. Eventually, this approach resulted in a sample size of 632 students for both JHS 1 and JHS 2. The data collection used structured questionnaires, and the snowballing approach was used for sampling and sample recruitment. The analytical method used for data analysis is structural equation modeling (SEM). This method is reliable for understanding the unique relationship between the dependent and independent variables to reveal their direct and indirect effects. This present study found that a growth mindset and grit are proportionally related to students' academic achievement. However, grit should be measured by the perseverance of effort, not consistency of interest and conscientiousness, to positively affect academic achievement. Both goal commitment and growth mindset are related to understanding how grit contributes positively to academic success. In essence, the findings imply that students need to have the perseverance to trigger their growth mindset and goal commitment to affect their academic pursuits positively.

Keywords

Growth mindset; Grit; Academic achievement

References

                   i.            Binning, K.R., Wang, M. Te, & Amemiya, J. (2018). Persistence Mindset among Adolescents: Who Benefits from the Message that Academic Struggles are Normal and Temporary? Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0933-3.

      ii.            Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Dev, 78(1), 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x.

    iii.            Costa, A., & Faria, L. (2018). Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00829

     iv.            Credé, M. (2018). What Shall We Do About Grit? A Critical Review of What We Know and What We Don't Know. Educational Researcher, 0013189X1880132. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X18801322

       v.            Credé, M., Tynan, M. C., & Harms, P. D. (2017). Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature. J Pers Soc Psychol, 113(3), 492–511. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000102.

     vi.            Duckworth, A. L. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. New York, NY: Scribner.

   vii.            Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. J Pers Soc Psychol, 92(6), 1087–1101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087.

 viii.            Duckworth, A. L., & Quinn, P. D. (2009). Development and validation of the short Grit Scale (Grit-S). J Pers Assess, 91(2), 166–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802634290.

     ix.            Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040–1048. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1040.

       x.            Dweck, C.S., Walton, G.M., & Cohen, G.L. (2014). Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learning. Retrieved from http://k12education.gatesfoundation.org/resource/academictenacity-mindsets-and-skills-that-promote-long-term-learning/

     xi.            Eskreis-Winkler, L., Shulman, E.P., Beal, S.A., & Duckworth, A.L. (2014). The grit effect: predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 (FEB). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00036

   xii.            Flunger, B., Marttinen, E., Tuominen-Soini, H., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2016). How Do Young Adults Orchestrate Their Multiple Achievement-Related Goals? Associations of Achievement Goal Orientations With Identity Formation and Goal Appraisals. Res Hum Dev, 13(4), 342–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2016.1234309.

 xiii.            Guo, J., Tang, X., & Xu, K. M. (2019) Capturing the multiplicative effect of perseverance and passion: measurement issues of combining two grit facets. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201820125, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820125116.

 xiv.            Little, B. R. (1983). Personal projects: A Rationale and Method for Investigation. Environ Behav, 15(3), 273–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916583153002.

   xv.            Muenks, K., Wigfield, A., Yang, J. S., & O'Neal, C. R. (2017). How true is grit? Assessing its relations to high school and college students' personality characteristics, self-regulation, engagement, and achievement. J Educ Psychol, 109(5), 599–620. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000153.

 xvi.            Muenks, K., Yang, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2018). Associations between grit, motivation, and achievement in high school students. Motivation Science, 4(2), 158–176. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000076.

xvii.            Niemivirta, M. (2002). Motivation and performance in context: The influence of goal orientations and instructional setting on situational appraisals and task performance. PSYCHOLOGIA –An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 45(4), 250–270. https://doi.org/10.2117/psysoc.2002.250.

xviii.            Nylund, J. (2018). Sisu: The Finnish Art of Courage. London, Great Britain: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.

 xix.            Park, D., Yu, A., Baelen, R. N., Tsukayama, E., & Duckworth, A. L. (2018). Fostering grit: Perceived school goal-structure predicts growth in grit and grades. Contemp Educ Psychol, 55, 120–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.09.007.

   xx.            Salmela-Aro, K., & Upadaya, K. (2012). The Schoolwork Engagement Inventory. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 28(1), 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000091.

 xxi.            Steinmayr, R., Weidinger, A. F., & Wigfield, A. (2018). Does students' grit predict their school achievement above and beyond their personality, motivation, and engagement? Contemp Educ Psychol, 53, 106–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.02.004.

xxii.            Tang, X., Wang, M-T., Guo, J., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2019). Building Grit: The Longitudinal Pathways between Mindset, Commitment, Grit, and Academic Outcomes Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48:850–863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-00998-0

xxiii.            Usher, E.L., Li, C.R., Butz, A.R., & Rojas, J.P. (2018). Perseverant grit and self-efficacy: Are both essential for children's academic success? Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000324

xxiv.            Yeager, D. S., Romero, C., Paunesku, D., Hulleman, C. S., Schneider, B., Hinojosa, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions: The case of the growth mindset during the transition to high school. J Educ Psychol, 108 (3), 374–391. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000098.

Abass Adamu, The Relationship between Growth Mindset, Grit, and Academic Achievement: Does Goal Commitment Matter?, International Journal of Management Sciences and Business Research 12(2020):26-32 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5036471