Revisiting the Factor Structure of Grit: A Commentary on Duckworth and Quinn (2009)

Abstract

This commentary addresses debate over the factor structure of the Grit Scale in both its original and short forms. Commonly (and in our own work), factor solutions are used to establish dimensionality of the construct being measured. For example, a two-factor hierarchical model was proposed for the Short Grit Scale. It has since been pointed out, correctly, that the specified model cannot be distinguished from a model with two correlated subfactors and no higher-order factor. In this commentary, we acknowledge the mathematical equivalence of these specifications and our error in interpretation. However, we also take the opportunity to admit a more profound correction. It is now clear to us that statistical answers cannot definitively settle certain theoretical riddles, and our argument for grit as a compound of related but distinct dispositions should not have relied so heavily on the optimal factor solution for a questionnaire devised to assess it. Rather, a conceptual question demands a conceptual answer, which we briefly attempt here. We conclude by noting the need for improved operationalizations of the tendency to stay committed to goals for years (passion) while working assiduously toward their achievement (perseverance).

Funding

This research was supported by the Walton Family Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.

Notes

1 The average correlations (r) were computed by using Fisher’s r to z transformation, averaging the z-scores, then transforming the average z back to an r.