Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics
No 629: Grit Trumps Talent? An experimental approach
Leonie Gerhards () and Christina Gravert ()
Additional contact information
Leonie Gerhards: Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University
Christina Gravert: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 Gothenburg
Abstract: Perseverance to accomplish long-term goals, also know as grit, is a crucial determinant for success in life. In the present study we introduce an innovative laboratory design to elicit grit in an incentivized and controlled way. Subjects work on a computerized task to solve anagrams. By observing their decision not to shirk, we measure their grittiness experimentally. We find that the original questionnaire measure of grit developed by Duckworth et al. (2007) is significantly correlated with our new experimental measure - even when controlling for ability and a questionnaire measure of self-control. Moreover, subjects' earnings increase in their experimentally elicited grit.
Keywords: Grit; perseverance; laboratory experiment; real-effort task
24 pages, October 2015
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