Breaking the Law of Inertia for Students with Poor Grit and Achievement - The Predictive Mechanism of Grit on the Short-Term and Long-Term Achievement

Sep 15, 2026

This study examines how junior high students’ grit—perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI)—predicts both short-term and long-term academic achievements within a longitudinal survey using structural equation modeling. Data from 236 junior high students in Taiwan were collected over three years. Results indicate PE sequentially predicts semester grades, while CI does not predict consecutive semester grades. Neither PE nor CI directly predicts CAP long-term achievement, though PE relates indirectly via semester grades. Implications for educational equity are discussed.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Adolescence and academic challenges

Grit as a non-cognitive trait

Defining and Measuring Grit

The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher [https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-023-00802-5](https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-023-00802-5) REGULAR ARTICLE Breaking the Law of Inertia for Students with Poor Grit and Achievement: The Predictive Mechanism of Griton the Short‑Term and Long‑Term Achievement Min‑Chieh Weng1 · Chen‑Hsuan Liao1 · Oi‑Man Kwok2 · Jiun‑Yu Wu1 Accepted: 6 December 2023 © The Author(s) 2024 Abstract This study aimed to examine the predictive validity of junior high students’ grit (including perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI)) on their shortterm and long-term academic achievements using a longitudinal survey design under the structural equation modeling framework. Data were collected on 236 junior high students (56.3% boys) in Taiwan across three years. The analytical results showed that PE successively influences students’semester grades (as short-term achievements) in a unidirectional way. However, CI could not predict the consecutive semester grades. Furthermore, we found that both PE and CI did not directly predict students’ achievement on the scores of the Comprehensive Assessment Program (CAP, as longterm achievements) . Only PE can indirectly associate with the CAP scores via students’ successive semester grades. The study results can be explained by the goal hierarchy of grit, where achieving good semester grades can be treated as the lower-order goals that are cohesively aligned with the superordinate goal to do well in the CAP. Strategies for fostering students’ perseverance of effort and implications for future research on educational equity are discussed. Keywords Grit · Longitudinal study · Reciprocal relationship · Academic performance · Junior high students * Jiun-Yu Wu [jiunyu.rms@gmail.com](jiunyu.rms@gmail.com); [jiunyuwu@nycu.edu.tw](jiunyuwu@nycu.edu.tw) 1 Institute of Education, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Rd., Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan 2 Departmant of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Introduction Adolescence is a significant developmental phase of the whole lifespan. In this phase, adolescents experience many changes, challenges, and setbacks, such as rapid maturation, social expectations, and academic tasks (Byrne et al., 2007 ; Moksnes et al. , 2016 ; Sotardi & Watson, 2019 ; Wigfield et al. , 2006) . Generally, students between 12 and 15 years old or in the late elementary and junior high school periods are known as middle adolescents, who are in the “storm and stress” stage of development in life (Blackwell et al. , 2007 ; Harter, 1998) . Specifically, students in this stage suffered from more competition, social comparison, higher teacher control and discipline, and fewer opportunities for decision-making by students (Eccles et al., 1993) . In addition, evidence showed that students’ learning is negatively influenced by the challenging environment, which leads toa downward trend in motivation and academic achievements (Corpus et al., 2009 ; Eccles et al., 1993 ; Gnambs & Hanfstingl, 2016; Wigfield et al., 2006) . Grit is a non-cognitive ability that consists of passion and perseverance (Duckworth et al., 2007) . When encountering setbacks, one with higher grit can better maintain their interest and effort for a long-term goal (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009 ; Duckworth et al., 2007). Hence, grit is a positive trait that benefits students in overcoming difficulties and obstacles (Weng et al., 2023) . Over the past decade, researchers have indicated that grit is positively associated with learning achievements for high school and college students (Credé et al., 2017). Furthermore, Lam and Zhou (2019) suggested that grit has more influence on academic achievements for K-12 students than for college students in a meta-analysis. In junior high school, students have to face many academic assignments and tasks (Dixson & Worrell, 2016) . Students have regular assessments each semester, s

FAQs

What does the study investigate about students’ grit?

It examines whether perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI) predict students’ short-term and long-term academic achievements over time.

How are short-term and long-term achievements measured in the research?

Short-term achievement is measured through semester grades, while long-term achievement is assessed using Comprehensive Assessment Program (CAP) scores.

What are the main findings regarding PE and CI?

PE sequentially influences semester grades, but CI cannot predict consecutive semester grades. Neither PE nor CI directly predicts CAP scores, while PE shows an indirect association via successive semester grades.

Sep 15, 2026

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