write:Assuch grithasbeenconceivedasastablecharacteristicordispositionoftheindividualthat similartotraditionalpersonalitytraits influenceshis/herattitudesandbehavioracrossdiversecontexts(

SRLandacademicachievement.Althoughgritisconsidereddistinctfromotherpersonaltraitsandhasprovenusefulforexplainingacademicoutcomes(DuckworthandQuinn2009;Maddietal.2012;Strayhorn2013)
therelationofgritandSRLhasnotyetbeeninvestigated.Thepresentstudyaddressesthisgapbyexploringwhethergritcanbeusedtopredictsevenindicatorsofcollegestudents’engagementinSRL
andwhethergritandSRLtogethercanbeusedtounderstandstudents’academicachievement.GritGritisdefinedasaperson’strait-levelperseveranceandpassionforlong-termgoals(Duckworthetal.2007).Assuch
grithasbeenconceivedasastablecharacteristicordispositionoftheindividualthat
similartotraditionalpersonalitytraits
influenceshis/herattitudesandbehavioracrossdiversecontexts(DuckworthandQuinn2009;Kleimanetal.2013;Reedetal.2013).Comparedtotheirlessgrittypeers
individualswithhigherlevelsofgritareexpectedtoexhibitgreaterpersistenceinthepursuitoftheirgoalsdespitesetbacks
distractions
orotherformsofinterference.Withineducationalcontexts
gritisportrayedasapotentiallyimportantinfluenceonoutcomessuchasstudents’engagement
achievementlevel
retentionandprobabilityofgraduation(DuckworthandQuinn2009;Maddietal.2012;Strayhorn2013).Althoughstillquitelimited
theresearchexamininggritindicatesthatitcanbemeasuredreliablyandthatitisempiricallydistinctfromothertrait-likeindividualdifferences.Inparticular
Duckworthandcolleagues(2007)developedaninitialself-reportmeasureofgritandprovidedsomeevidencethatitwasdifferentthantraditionalpersonalityconstructssuchasconscientiousness.Althoughanalyseswithadultssuggestedthatitconsistedoftworelateddimensions
theseresearchersexaminedgritusingasingle12-itemscale.Basedonsamplesfromseveraldistinctpopulations
theseresearchersshowedthatthisbroadindicatorofgritwasrelatedpositivelytoeducationalattainment
collegegrades
self-control
retentionwithinarigorousmilitarytrainingprogram
andadolescents’performanceinacompetitivenationalspellingbee.Addingtothisresearch
DuckworthandQuinn(2009)developedashorter8-itemself-reportsurveybasedonasubsetoftheoriginalgrititems.Re-evaluationofdatafromtheparticipantsinDuckworthetal.(2007)withthissmallersetofitemsaswellasanadditionalsampleofadultsindicatedthatgritwasbestmodeledastwofirst-orderlatentfactorsthatalsoloadedontoonesecond-orderlatentfactor.Oneofthefirst-orderfactors
titledconsistencyofinterest
reflectedparticipants’reportedtendencytoadheretoparticulargoalsoverlongerperiodsoftime.Thesecondfirst-orderlatentfactor
termedperseveranceofeffort
representedparticipants’reportedtendencytosustainthetimeandenergynecessaryforaccomplishinglongtermtaskseveninthefaceofdistractions.Despitethedistinctionbetweenthesefactors
DuckworthandQuinnutilizedasingle8-itemindicatorofgritinseveraladditionalstudieswithadolescents
militarycadetsandadults.Overall
DuckworthandQuinnreplicatedmanyoftheearlierfindingsfromDuckworthetal.(2007)includingtheindependenceofgritfromaspectsofpersonality
anditspositiverelationtoacademicsuccess
retentionwithinarigorousmilitarytrainingprogram
andrankinginanationalspellingbee.Theyalsofoundthatthesingleshortmeasureofgritwasrelativelystableacrossthespanofoneyearamongadolescents.Recentcontributionsfromotherresearcherstendtoconfirmtheviewofgritasapotentiallyimportantinfluenceonaspectsofindividual’spersistenceandperformance
includingwithin294C.A.Wolters
M.Hussain