THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF GRIT VERSUS GROWTH MINDSET ON LATER LITERACY ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

Noncognitive, socioemotional variables impact individual’s academic achievement. Grit and growth mindset are two well researched socioemotional variables known to positively predict academic outcomes. This quantitative study is the first to systematically evaluate if growth mindset predicts later literacy achievement above and beyond grit. Method: The relative predictive strength of these two variables was evaluated using a short-term longitudinal dataset with a total of 267 upper elementary school students from two schools (5% Asian, 10% Black, 6% Latinx, 17% Multiethnic/Other, and 62% White; 36% dual language learner; 60% female; average age = 9.7 years). Measures included self-report on the Short Grit Scale, the Resiliency: Helpless vs. Mastery-Oriented Responses to Failure Scale, and a student literacy achievement performance task (Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension, TOSREC). Analytic Approach: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were run to determine the factor structure of the grit and growth mindset scales for the data. Consistency in grit and growth mindset over time was evaluated via measurement invariance testing. A latent variable path analysis (LVPA) of latent grit and latent growth mindset at Time 1 predicting observed literacy achievement Time 2 was run to determine the relative predictive power of grit and growth mindset. Results: A second-order two factor structure fit the data and theoretical model for both grit and growth mindset. Partial measurement invariance was established for the Short Grit Scale and non-invariance was found for the Resiliency: Helpless vs. Mastery-Oriented Responses to Failure Scale. Finally, both grit and growth mindset were significant positive predictors of later literacy achievement, but grit was found to predict literacy above and beyond the variance accounted for growth mindset. Findings support the continued study of grit and growth mindset as viable predictors of outcomes among elementary-age students. Psychologists and educators should consider integration of socioemotional constructs, such as grit and growth mindset, into academic learning.