The concept of grit was first proposed by Duckworth et al. (2007) and categorized into two types: “Consistency of Interest” (Grit-CI) and “Perseverance of Effort” (Grit-PE). These authors developed the Grit Scale (Duckworth et al., 2007), which was later adapted into the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Grit can improve students’ academic performance and predict future behavior (Cosgrove et al., 2018; Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014; Park et al., 2018).
Some military studies have reported that grit is significantly related to soldier performance. Eskreis-Winkler et al. (2014) determined that grit, intelligence, years of education, and physical performance could predict the training pass rate of United States Army Special Forces soldiers, with grit exhibiting the strongest predictive ability. The United States Military Academy undertook a series of studies and concluded that the most critical factor affecting the successful completion of cadet basic training was grit (Maddi et al., 2012).
Most researchers maintain that grit is a real concept; however, some dispute the accuracy of available scales. The correlation between Grit-CI and Grit-PE is low, and they cannot be combined into a high-level factor. Grit is also problematic because of its domain-related and cultural limitations (Credé et al., 2017). Therefore, before we can apply the concept of grit, we must identify its role and validate means for measuring it. Few studies have investigated grit in Taiwan, and even fewer have done so in the context of military education. Our research was divided into four substudies, namely the verification of the Grit-S, interviewing of military cadets, the application of the concept mapping method for exploring and conceptualizing grit, and the development of the Military Cadets’ Grit Scale (MCGS).
The research objectives were as follows:
1. Conduct a comprehensive examination of the concept of grit, as defined by Duckworth et al. (2007), to determine its applicability to military cadets.
2. Identify the structure of military cadets’ grit.
3. Develop and validate the MCGS.
Study 1
In Study 1,422 cadets completed the Grit-S, which was used to determine whether the definition of perseverance proposed by Duckworth et al. (2007) could be applied to military cadets.
The results revealed either negative or close-to-zero correlations between Grit-CI and Grit-PE items. Although a two-factor correlation model had a good fit, the correlation coefficient between Grit-CI and Grit-PE was nonsignificant; thus, Grit-S could not extract higher-level factors. Study 1 demonstrated that the second-order and two-factor concepts of grit proposed by Duckworth et al. (2007) could not be applied to our military cadets. This result was consistent with that obtained by Datu et al. (2016), who reported that, in non-Western cultures, Grit-CI and Grit-PE cannot be merged into a single second-order factor. This result addressed our first research objective, indicating that grit as a concept requires further analysis.
Study 2
Four cadets with either high or low grit were interviewed (recommended by their captains). The interview topics were school life, family profile, personality, and future military plans. All the participants were senior male cadets.
The military cadets with high grit possessed a strong interpersonal support system, approached their work with a positive attitude, identified strongly with the military school ethos, regarded difficulties as challenges, and adopted positive response strategies. Furthermore, the key factors affecting their performance were psychological. The results demonstrated that perseverance preceded passion for these cadets, which is consistent with the structure of grit in collectivist cultures (Datu, 2017). For the cadets, accomplishing tasks was considered more critical than exhibiting passion for long-term engagement. Even without passion, they could rely on their reserves of perseverance to complete their tasks. However, perseverance alone cannot explain grit in its entirety (Duckworth, 2016); therefore, Study 3 was conducted to broaden our research.
Study 3
In Study 3, we invited 20 military cadets to use concept mapping, multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis to construct the concept of grit.
The results indicated that military cadets’ grit comprised five dimensions, namely goal commitment, interpersonal support, self-efficacy, growth mindset, and positive response. The cadets exhibited a high degree of commitment to their goals and expressed the belief that the military school could assist them in professional development. The cadets with high grit had a strong interpersonal support system, and this result is consistent with that of Study 2. They also had a high degree of self-efficacy and perceived themselves as having sufficient ability to engage in military-related activities. The high-grit military cadets exhibited positive cognition (a growth mindset) and action (positive response) as well as a greater passion for life, flexibility, and positivity in daily life than did the low-grit cadets. With these results, the second objective of this research was achieved.
Study 4
According to the findings of the first three studies, in Study 4, we developed the first draft of the MCGS, which comprised 100 items pertaining to the aforementioned five dimensions. The development of the MCGS was divided into two stages. In the first stage, 1,282 military cadets were recruited for a pilot study, and the collected data were analyzed through Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and internal consistency, resulting in a final 23-item version. In the second stage, 1,284 military cadets were enrolled, and their data were collected and analyzed using CFA, measures of reliability, and criterion-related validity.
The result validated the five dimensions and second-order structural model of the MCGS. In addition, all participants had moderate to high levels of grit; men’s grit was higher than that of women, especially regarding goal commitment and self-efficacy. Moreover, the level of grit increased with cadet grade.
Discussion and Conclusion
The conceptual structure of grit is domain-specific and contextually adaptable. Although grit as a concept is meaningful in various cultures, a re-examination of its connotations is necessary (Datu et al., 2018). In collectivist societies, grit has a strong effect on perseverance (Datu et al., 2016) because, unlike individualistic cultures that emphasize the pursuit of personal goals, collectivist cultures stress the importance of interpersonal harmony (Kwan et al., 1997). Individuals with high grit are sensitive to the social and cultural environment, and to achieve group goals, they tend to pursue personal goals only in certain situations. High-grit military cadets exhibit strong perseverance but are more likely to fulfill the expectations of others when pursuing goals.
Military cadets’ grit is composed of five dimensions. If they have a stronger commitment to goals, their performance is more effective. The higher a cadet’s level of grit is, the more emphasis they place on how to achieve goals in a self-reliant manner. Interpersonal support includes the cognitive, emotional, and material guidance that individuals receive from their interactions with others; it can considerably improve one’s health and reduce negative thinking (Calvo-Francés & Alemán-Ruiz, 2017; McLean et al., 2017). Self-efficacy, in this context, refers to the confidence military school students have in their own knowledge and skills. Cadets with high self-efficacy pursue more long-term goals, have a stronger sense of goal commitment, and take greater interest in learning than do those with low self-efficacy. The growth mindset refers to cadets’ positive thinking, flexibility, and belief that the future can be changed; they are particularly capable of facing challenges effectively and viewing them positively. Positive response refers to cadets’ positive behavior. Military cadets often respond to difficulties positively, believing that if they do not confront setbacks, more time will be spent addressing them later. Therefore, positive thinkin and behavioral response assist military cadets in persisting and adapting to the military environment.
The grit of cadets is a trait that can potentially be cultivated through education and training. Our results demonstrated that grit increased significantly with the cadets’ time in military school. Therefore, assisting first-year cadets in establishing a strong interpersonal support system, strengthening goal commitment, improving self-efficacy, promoting a growth mindset, and enhancing their positive response ability can cultivate cadets’ grit and increase their motivation toward military activities.
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