Persisting in tough times across Hong Kong, mainland China, and the Philippines: grit, achievement goal orientation, and science engagement

Abstract

Background Past studies of grit's educational benefits, such as science engagement, showed mixed results across cultures. So, we elaborated the prior model of grit (perseverance of effort, consistency of interest) with adaptability to situations (forming a triarchic model of grit TMG), and tested TMG's relation to subsequent science engagement. Methods In this study, 1,972 high school students in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the Philippines completed surveys twice (about 6 months apart). We analysed these data with multilevel structural equation modelling. Results Results showed that country income (GDP per capita) negatively predicted science engagement, while schools with the highest ability students had higher science engagement. Conscientiousness and overall grit positively predicted science engagement at both time periods. Consistency of interest negatively predicted science engagement. Conclusions This research demonstrates the potential academic benefits of grit in non-Western societies. Promoting grit may serve as a pathway towards greater students’ engagement in science.

Gritty Parenting: The Development and Validation of the Parental Grit Scale

“…Subsequent analysis with a three-factor CFA model and several alternative models in W1 Subsample 2 confirmed the correlated three-factor model structure. Although this finding is in contrast with other domain-specific grit scales that have lacked empirical support for their multidimensional conceptualization (Clark & Malecki, 2019;Morell et al, 2020), it coheres with on-going scientific discourse on the generalizability of a multidimensional three-factor model of grit in student (Datu et al, 2024;Datu et al, 2018) and adult samples in diverse societies. Whereas the second-order CFA model also fit the data, direct comparison with the triarchic model was precluded because they had identical parameters.…”

“…We embraced this integration in conceptualizing parental grit because parent-child dyads are interdependent by nature from a family systems perspective (Bell, 1968(Bell, , 1979Sameroff, 2010). Furthermore, this dimension has been proposed to be relevant not only for individuals in collectivistic societies (Datu et al, 2024;Datu & Zhang, 2021) but also for those in individualistic societies Datu & Fincham, 2022). In this vein, we define parental grit as parents' inclination to demonstrate perseverance, sustained passion, and adaptability of goalspecific pathways in pursuing long-term parenting or child-rearing goals.…”