Grit and Different Aspects of Well-being: Direct and Indirect Effects via Sense of Coherence and Authenticity

Abstract: Grit, the “passion and perseverance for long-term goals” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087) is strongly related to success in goal attainment even under challenging circumstances. The current thesis investigated how grit relates to three aspects of well-being: psychological well-being (PWB), life satisfaction, and harmony in life. This relationship is approached through the organismic valuing theory, which proposes that people are naturally motivated to grow towards their highest potential; grit is proposed as being akin to such growth motivation. In two studies (Study 1 with 196 university students, and Study 2 with 396 non-students), structural equation modeling was employed to test for direct and indirect effects between grit and well-being. Sense of coherence (SOC) and authenticity were used as mediators, and gender as a moderator. As expected, grit was highly positively related to all well-being factors, and SOC and authenticity were highly significant mediators (partial for PWB and full for life satisfaction and harmony). This suggests that being gritty about one’s goal pursuits requires both a sense that the world is coherent and an authentic connection with the self in order for it to fully benefit well-being. Two gender-moderated differences were found: in both studies, men showed a stronger direct effect between grit and well-being (in Study 1, between grit and harmony; in Study 2, between grit and PWB) even after the mediators were controlled for. Therefore, some preliminary indications of gender differences between grit and well-being were found.