Predicting Educational Attainment: Does Grit Compensate for Low Levels of Cognitive Ability?

Abstract

This study examined the role of cognitive ability in moderating grit’s predictive effect on educational outcomes. Using a large, representative sample of young adults, we estimated multivariate regression models for the probability of graduating from high school, enrolling in college, earning any college degree, and earning a college degree. For each outcome, the effect of grit (and, alternatively, consistency of interest and perseverance of effort) was allowed to differ for students in each quartile of the cognitive ability distribution. We found that the predicted effect of grit—which is dominated by the effect of perseverance—is almost entirely concentrated among students at both the high and low ends of the cognitive ability distribution. We also found that grit’s predictive power increases with each successive educational outcome for high-ability students, but not for low-ability students. The findings are consistent with the notion that high-ability students adopt self-regulated learning processes that exploit their grit, especially as educational tasks become more challenging. For low-ability students, it appears that grit plays a compensatory role. Relatively few low-ability students attain each educational outcome, but those who do appear to benefit from the effective substitution of grit for cognitive ability.