Features of personal narratives about achievement depending on grit

Abstract

Goal achievement is one of the keyfactors of psychological well-being. Grit is believed to bethe most important predictor of success. It is a non-cognitive personality traitthat includes two elements -perseverance in effort and passion for long-term goals.Those demonstrating the grit continue to work despite the setbacks, adversities, and plateaus throughout the process. This study focused onthe phenomenology of experience during achieving goals. Based on self-identification of the respondents two groups were formed. Exploratory study withmixed designwas conducted. In particular, the qualitative data wasanalyzed withD. McAdams' narrative analysis methodand laterexamined withthe Chi-square test. Open-ended questions related to the influence of grit on the achieving goals capacity were formulated. These questions covered personal aspects as self-esteem, fears, cognitive reappraisal and the formation of coping strategies. Based on the answers eight themes were formed and analyzed: Factors that influence the goals choice, The role of self-control in achieving goals, Experiencing difficulties and failures, Psychological well-being, Obsessive attitude towards goals, Respondents' beliefs about themselves, Generalization of fear. Semantic units within each theme were specified. Fragments of respondents' narratives are provided.Results showedthat grit can perform as a mental resource and a supportive factor. At the same time, grit has the downside –it might encourage people to achieve unnecessary goals. Further research is neededin orderto understandthe relation of thegritmanifestationdependingon the personal story.