Is there a relationship between IQ and grit?

Note: This is a section of a longer article. To go to the start, click here.

The relationship between IQ and grit in our sample was very small, bordering on negligible (r = 0.10 calculated on a subsample of n = 686 participants). Grit is a personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion for long-term goals and in our study we measured it with 12 items such as “I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one.” (reverse scores), “I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.” and “I finish whatever I begin.” This very small correlation between IQ and grit total score is shown in the scatterplot below.

What do the other studies say?

Our results are in line with many other studies in the literature that examined the correlation between IQ and grit and found that it is either very low or non-existent (e.g., Duckworth et al., 2007; Zisman & Ganzach, 2020).

Takeaways

• Grit and IQ have little to no correlation.

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