Skip to main content
Original Article

Grit, Basic Needs Satisfaction, and Subjective Well-Being

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000219

Abstract. In this study, we investigated how grit is related to the satisfaction of the basic needs and subjective well-being. Grit means dedication to long-term goals with enthusiasm, which is closely related to success in objective terms. Thus, we expected that grit would be positively related to satisfying the autonomy and competence needs, which would lead to greater subjective well-being (i.e., higher life satisfaction and lower depression). A survey of young adults (N = 455) revealed that grit is strongly related to both the autonomy and competence needs, and these needs mediated the effect of grit on subjective well-being. Grit, did not directly increase life satisfaction but weakly decreased depression. Further, the two basic needs played different roles in enhancing subjective well-being. Autonomy reduced depression, and competence increased life satisfaction.

References

  • Bailly, N., Joulain, M., Hervé, C. & Alaphilippe, D. (2012). Coping with negative life events in old age: The role of tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment. Aging & Mental Health, 16, 431–437. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2011.630374 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental and theoretical aspects. New York, NY: Harper & Row. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Black, A. E. & Deci, E. (2000). The effects of instructors’ autonomy support and students’ autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A self-determination theory perspective. Science Education, 84, 740–756. doi: 10.1002/1098-237X(200011)84:6<740::AID-SCE4>3.0.CO;2-3 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Brandtstädter, J. & Rothermund, K. (2002). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22, 117–150. doi: 10.1006/drev.2001.0539 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Chirkov, V., Ryan, R. M., Kim, Y. & Kaplan, U. (2003). Differentiating autonomy from individualism and independence: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization of cultural orientations and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 97–110. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.97 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum Publishing. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268. doi: 10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J. & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Diener, E., Oishi, S. & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403–425. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. & Gross, J. J. (2014). Self-control and grit: Related but separable determinants of success. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 319–325. doi: 10.1177/0963721414541462 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L., Kirby, T., Tsukayama, E., Berstein, H. & Ericsson, K. A. (2010). Deliberate practice spells success: Why grittier competitors triumph at the National Spelling Bee. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 174–181. doi: 10.1177/1948550610385872 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D. & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D. & Seligman, M. E. P. (2009). Positive predictors of teacher effectiveness. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 540–547. doi: 10.1080/17439760903157232 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Duckworth, A. L., Weir, D., Tsukayama, E. & Kwok, D. (2012). Who does well in life? Conscientious adults excel in both objective and subjective Success. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 356. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00356 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Eskreis-Winkler, L., Shulman, E. P., Beal, S. A. & Duckworth, A. L. (2014). The grit effect: predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 36. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00036 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gagné, M. & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 331–362. doi: 10.1002/job.322 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hofer, J. & Busch, H. (2011). Satisfying one’s needs for competence and relatedness: Consequent domain-specific well-being depends on strength of implicit motives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1147–1158. doi: 10.1177/0146167211408329 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ingledew, D. K., Markland, D. & Sheppard, K. E. (2004). Personality and self-determination of exercise behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 1921–1932. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2003.08.021 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ivcevic, Z. & Brackett, M. (2014). Predicting school success: Comparing conscientiousness, grit, and emotion regulation ability. Journal of Research in Personality, 52, 29–36. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2014.06.005 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kasser, V. G. & Ryan, R. M. (1999). The relation of psychological needs for autonomy and relatedness to vitality, well-being, and mortality in a nursing home. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29, 935–954. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb00133.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kim, J.-H. (2007). The relationship between life satisfaction/life satisfaction expectancy and stress/well-being: An application of motivational states theory. Korean Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 325–345. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Komarraju, M. & Karau, S. J. (2005). The relationship between the big five personality traits and academic motivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 557–567. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.02.013 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lee, M. & Kim, A. (2008). Development and construct validation of the basic psychological needs scale for Korean adolescents: Based on the self-determination theory. Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 22, 157–174. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Lee, Y. & Song, J. (1991). A study of the reliability and the validity of the BDI, SDS, and MMPI-D scales. Korean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 10, 98–113. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G. & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the questions, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 151–173. doi: 10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_1 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lynch, M. F., La Guardia, J. G. & Ryan, R. M. (2009). On being yourself in different cultures: Ideal and actual self-concept, autonomy support, and well-being in China, Russia, and the United States. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 290–304. doi: 10.1080/17439760902933765 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Moller, A. C., Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2006). Choice and ego-depletion: The moderating role of autonomy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1024–1036. doi: 10.1177/0146167206288008 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Nix, G. A., Ryan, R. M., Manly, J. B. & Deci, E. L. (1999). Revitalization through self-regulation: The effects of autonomous and controlled motivation on happiness and vitality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 266–284. doi: 10.1006/jesp.1999.1382 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Reis, H. T., Sheldon, K. M., Gable, S. L., Roscoe, J. & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Daily well-being: The role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 419–435. doi: 10.1177/0146167200266002 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Roberts, B. W., Lejuez, C., Krueger, R. F., Richards, J. M. & Hill, P. L. (2014). What is conscientiousness and how can it be assessed? Developmental Psychology, 50, 1315–1330. doi: 10.1037/a0031109 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Seligman, M. E. (2002). Authentic happiness. New York, NY: Free Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Sheldon, K. M. & Krieger, L. S. (2007). Understanding the negative effects of legal education on law students: A longitudinal test of self-determination theory. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin, 33, 883–897. doi: 10.1177/0146167207301014 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Smith, P. & Schwartz, S. (1997). Values. In J. BerryM. SegallC. KagitcibasiEds., Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (Vol. 3): Social behavior and applications (2nd ed., pp. 78–118). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F. & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271–324. doi: 10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Von Culin, L. R., Tsukayama, E. & Duckworth, A. L. (2014). Unpacking grit: Motivational correlates of perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Positive Psychology, 9, 306–312. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2014.898320 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Yeager, D. S., Henderson, M. D., Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., D’Mello, S., Spitzer, B. J. & Duckworth, A. L. (2014). Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107, 559–580. doi: 10.1037/a0037637 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar