The Neuroscientific Roots for Perseverance: Revisiting “Grit”

By: Havva Kurt Taşpınar

As a mother of a chess player, at the beginning of my son’s chess career, I witnessed how even a five-and-a-half-year-old could persist, continuing to make moves despite being defeated in the previous game. This is a familiar scene for the majority of (professional) players, who return to the board after losing a game that may have lasted three hours or more. One of these games took place between the world champion Kasparov and Deep Blue, a supercomputer developed by IBM, in 1996, thirty years ago! They played a pair of six-game matches. Indeed, Kasparov was the winner in the first match in 1996. But then, in 1997, “Deeper” blue defeated the reigning world chess champion: Kasparov lost! This marked the first instance in chess history in which a machine defeated a human.

Below is the summary of the games:

The 1996 match
Game #	White	Black	Result
1	Deep Blue	Kasparov	1–0
2	Kasparov	Deep Blue	1–0
3	Deep Blue	Kasparov	½–½
4	Kasparov	Deep Blue	½–½
5	Deep Blue	Kasparov	0–1
6	Kasparov	Deep Blue	1–0
*Result:* Kasparov–Deep Blue: 4–2

The 1997 rematch
Game #	White	Black	Result
1	Kasparov	Deep Blue	1–0
2	Deep Blue	Kasparov	1–0
3	Kasparov	Deep Blue	½–½
4	Deep Blue	Kasparov	½–½
5	Kasparov	Deep Blue	½–½
6	Deep Blue	Kasparov	1–0
*Result:* Deep Blue–Kasparov: 3½–2½

(Source: Wikipedia: Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov)

These results were striking then. But to me what was even more striking was Kasparov’s resignation only after 19 moves, lasting less than an hour. This was a miniature! Kasparov decided to resign in the final game. “I lost my fighting spirit,” he later explained. But what does “losing the fighting spirit” mean? Does it have anything to do with what learners feel during the learning process? Is it related to “grit”? In this article, we will seek answers to the following questions: Why do some learners tend to give up easily when they encounter challenges while others persist? And how can this situation be explained from a neuroscientific perspective?

Framing the Concept

Grit has become one of the central phenomena in recent educational research (Gray & Mannahan, 2017). Scholars state that what makes the most prominent leaders in every field unique is the high levels of grit that they possess. It is considered to be among the vital traits a learner should have to be successful in the 21st century (Changlek & Palanukulwong, 2015; U. S. Department of Education, 2013). Angela Duckworth et al. (2007) point out that grit has a large impact on academic achievement. In a more recent article, Duckworth (2016) even asserts that grit plays a much bigger role in success than talent does. It is the grittier learners who have perseverance to master their skills and develop their competence in the learning process. To illustrate, gritty adults are more inclined to pursue graduate-level education (Duckworth et al., 2007).

So, what is grit? It is defined as “the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals” (Duckworth et al., 2007, p. 1087). Duckworth et al. also define grit as “a passion and perseverance to accomplish long-term goals” despite challenges and setbacks (p. 1087). Thus, individuals with grit are likely to demonstrate not only determination, perseverance, and goal-setting ability, but also patience and flexibility in coping with obstacles. This personality trait entails a sustained commitment to individuals’ long-term goals, with perseverance and consistent passion; thus, it plays a vital role in achieving higher levels of success (Wang et al., 2017). Those are the students who diligently revise their work based on their teacher’s feedback, making each single correction in their paper before submitting the second draft. Those are the ones who are able to make it to the “finish line”!

Identifying Gritty Learners in the Classroom

“Why do some people achieve more than others?” This is not a question posed only by Wang et al. (2017, p. 452). It is a question that echoes in the minds of all educators, along with the question: “What are the characteristics of gritty learners?” Learners who have grit are likely to be more determined, goal-oriented, hard-working, and successful. Duckworth et al.’s (2007) study showed that higher grit scores were associated with higher GPAs (r = .25, p = .01), a relationship which was even stronger when SAT scores were held constant (r = .34, p = .001). In a similar vein, Bloom (1985) also affirmed that prodigies practiced hard to become the best in their fields, for at least 10 or 15 years. These talented, high-achieving individuals had a strong interest in their particular field, a strong desire to reach “a high level of attainment” in the field, and a “willingness to put in great amounts of time and effort.” They perceive academic difficulties as speed bumps, not as obstacles which hinder learning (Paff, 2016). That is to say, they are not likely to give up easily as they have high levels of stamina (Keegan, 2017). Research suggests that gritty learners are more likely to persist through challenges and sustained effort, which can also support creative achievement and long-term innovation (Duckworth et al., 2007).

“Creators must be able to persist in the face of difficulty and overcome the many obstacles in the way of creative discovery…Drive and energy in childhood are more predictive of success, if not creativity, than is IQ or some other more domain-specific ability” (Winner, 1996, as cited in Duckworth et al., 2007, p.1100).

Characteristics of Gritty Learners

Learners with high levels of grit tend to pursue long-term goals, driven by a sustained interest in a particular subject area. They are more perseverant and resilient in the case of challenges and drawbacks. Another distinguishing trait they have is related to self-regulation. Such learners can easily stay focused on learning tasks, for they can have control over their behavior, attention, and emotions. With an ability to set clear goals, they can sustain goal-directed focus.

Further, having higher levels of grit comes with the ability to delay immediate rewards while investing sustained effort over time. People with high levels of grit are able to explore alternative approaches when faced with obstacles and explore alternative approaches as well. In the face of frustration and failure, gritty students are able to sustain motivation in spite of discomfort, mistakes, and criticism. Finally, they persist through habits and commitment rather than short-term motivation.

Our study (Kurt-Taşpınar & Külekçi, 2018) found similar characteristics among gritty learners (The scale can be accessed at here). The interviews we conducted with the grittiest students showed that they had the most specific and elaborate goals. Additionally, these learners reported that they had a strong desire to achieve extraordinary things. They also reported that they were organized, hardworking, goal- and success-oriented, ambitious, self-confident, persistent, and forward-thinking individuals. Learners who had relatively lower grit scores, however, noted that they experienced problems in identifying their likes and dislikes, and they had difficulty in determining their desired achievements and in achieving their goals. They also stated they had low levels of concentration and optimism, resulting in a lack of perseverance.

Another study revealed how highly gritty students perceived and described problems they encountered in the language learning process (Kurt-Taşpınar, 2022). Participants were asked to write structured diaries reflecting on the difficulties they encountered during the language learning process. Learner diaries provided in-depth reflection, particularly on the metaphors for problems learners faced throughout the learning process. These metaphors were analyzed based on the categories suggested by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The following categories emerged: “a problem is a locked container for its solution—solving a problem involves opening an object,” “a problem is a region in a landscape—failing to solve is failing to locate an object in landscape,” and “a problem is a constructed object”. More specifically, they described having trouble speaking English as a door closed in their face, not understanding song lyrics as running without progress, having difficulty reading sentences as throwing darts with their eyes closed, and having difficulty understanding some parts of the reading text because of some unknown words as a puzzle with a missing piece. These metaphors reflect gritty students’ perceptions about the challenges they face while learning English.

Neuroscientific Foundations of Grit

Although grit is a fundamental concept in learning, little is known about the neural mechanisms behind it. Myers et al.’s (2016) study has examined the neural basis of grit in that it is associated with resting-state functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). From a neuroscience perspective, coordinated activity across the prefrontal cortex, dopamine system, striatum, and limbic system is required for grit to emerge and be sustained in goal-directed behavior. As stated in the study, the PFC is responsible for planning and self-regulation. It plays a central role in individuals’ maintaining long-term goals, organizing actions, and inhibiting impulsive responses. The dopamine system, on the other hand, is linked to motivation and reward learning since it reinforces behaviors. Reward value is signaled, and sustained engagement with goal-directed tasks is supported through the dopamine system. The striatum is involved in habit formation and persistence. Repeated effortful actions can be converted into automatic routines that support long-term performance with the help of the striatum. Finally, it is the limbic system, namely, the amygdala, that processes negative emotional experiences and helps determine the emotional response to failure. Thus, an individual decides to persist or withdraw after setbacks. This coordination across different areas in the brain allows sustained effort, emotional regulation, and adaptive persistence in learning contexts.

The Neural Ingredients of Persistence

A distributed brain network enables individuals to exhibit persistence. In other words, it is not a single region in the brain that is responsible for persistence. The PFC supports planning and goal maintenance. The ACC, which is located in the medial (inner) part of the frontal region of the brain, helps detect conflict and evaluates the costs of effort. Another area, the striatum, as part of the basal ganglia, contributes to the selection of actions and the reinforcement of learning (Botvinick et al., 2004; Haber & Knutson, 2010). The coordination among these systems result in sustained goal-directed behavior, which is central to grit (Duckworth et al., 2007).

Motivation is linked to the dopaminergic pathways that connect the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area. The role of dopamine is that it encodes incentive value and reward prediction, reinforcing behaviors which lead to progress (Schultz, 1997; Wise, 2004). As for perseverance, these mechanisms support sustainable commitment to long-term goals by reinforcing incremental progress rather than immediate rewards.

Executive functions (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) are primarily supported by the PFC and are essential for self-control (Diamond, 2013). These processes enable individuals to visualize their goals, resist distractions, and adjust their strategies when necessary, all of which are fundamental components of grit (Baumeister & Vohs, 2007).

The amygdala, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and the prefrontal cortex mediate the interaction between emotion and cognitive control. The amygdala processes emotional salience (e.g., failure or disappointment), the PFC, on the other hand, regulates the emotional and stress reactions triggered by emotionally significant events, such as failure, disappointment, threat, or strong reward, to maintain goal-directed behavior (Arnsten, 2009; McEwen, 2007). The balance between emotional reactivity and cognitive control under stress affects how effective perseverance is. Thus, both psychological descriptions of behavior (e.g., persistence and effort) and biological explanations of underlying mechanisms (e.g., PFC regulation, stress systems, and reinforcement learning) are required, which reflects a mind-brain perspective. Table 1 provides signs of grit in relation to this perspective.

Table 1. Mind-Brain Perspective on Grit

Right Putamen: RP; Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex: DLPFC; Anterior Mid Cingulate Cortex: AMCC; Precuneus: P; Medial Orbital Frontal Cortex: MOFC

Sign of Grit RP	Mind-Brain Perspective
Sustained interest in long-term goals DLPFC	supported by motivational systems in the brain, particularly reward-related circuitry associated with anticipation and value processing (often linked to dopaminergic pathways) (Schultz, 1997; Wise, 2004).
Perseverance when confronted with difficulty AMCC	the interaction between executive control systems (prefrontal regions) and emotional regulation networks helping individuals overcome short-term frustration (Arnsten, 2009; McEwen, 2007).
Strong self-regulation DLPFC	associated with executive functions (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) (Diamond, 2013).
Goal clarity & direction	coordination between planning systems in the prefrontal cortex and motivational valuation systems (Botvinick et al., 2004; Haber & Knutson, 2010).
Patience with delayed rewards	capacity for delayed reward processing and impulse control (Schultz, 1997; Wise, 2004).
Adaptive problem-solving	flexibility linked to cognitive adaptability and higher-order executive functioning (Diamond, 2013).
Tolerance for frustration & failure	Emotional regulation systems: modulating stress responses, supporting continued engagement under difficulty (Arnsten, 2009; McEwen, 2007)
Consistency of effort over time DLPFC \| P&MOFC	effort through habits and internalized motivation rather than momentary drive, reflecting the role of procedural learning and habit formation systems (Duckworth, 2007; Miller & Cohen, 2001).

Educational Implications

As educators, we now know that grit is a crucial indicator of persistence, perseverance, and success in education. Grit is also at the heart of language teaching and learning:

Throughout my teaching experiences in foreign-language settings as well as in university intensive-English programs, I have witnessed students with apparently strong language skills fail to become successful language learners over time, and I have also witnessed students with initially weak language skills go on to become highly successful language learners. Perhaps these differences are due, at least in part, to grit. (Keegan, 2017, p. 2)

While trying to minimize the gap between students’ “knowing” the language and “doing” things with it, educators should consider how the brain supports motivation, resilience, and sustained effort during the learning process, and how they can facilitate this process, taking neurodiversity into account. The PFC affects planning, self-control, and goal-setting, as has been stated previously. The AMCC enables learners to monitor errors and stay on task while the dopamine reward system is related to motivation and persistence. Finally, due to neuroplasticity, pathways can be strengthened through repeated effort.

So, what should we do as language teachers? First, we should value effort more than talent by providing process-based feedback and praising persistence (Duckworth et al., 2007) and promote a growth mindset in our classrooms (Dweck, 2006). We should focus on the progress that our learners make rather than their mistakes, emphasizing that mistakes are inevitable in the process of brain growth. Moreover, we should explain that the language learning process includes various challenges so that learners can regard difficulty and confusion as normal so they can maintain their motivation (Dörnyei, 2009). To further strengthen their motivation, we should encourage long-term goal setting (Duckworth, 2016). We should also adjust the difficulty level of tasks. That is, the tasks should require effort while remaining achievable (Bjork & Bjork, 2011). We should highlight the importance of consistent practice for sustainable language learning and help learners establish effective study routines (Hattie, 2009). We should create a supportive classroom atmosphere in order to encourage collaboration among learners and enhance emotional resilience. Finally, we should foster reflective practices in the classroom (Ellis, 2008). In this way, they can become more autonomous and self-aware learners.

“I’ve grown my skills over the past few years and then it became just a mental game every day, trying to stay positive and trying to keep working out the details,” says my daughter’s idol Lee Kiefer (Kiefer & Scruggs, 2024), who is a medical student and a three-time U. S. Olympian and gold medalist in Individual Women’s Foil Fencing. To make a long story short, long-term success does not come easily; it is gained through hard work, consistent effort, perseverance, and resilience: GRIT.

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Havva Kurt Taşpınar is a lecturer at İzmir Institute of Technology. She holds a BA and a PhD in English Language Teaching, as well as an MA in TEFL. She has presented at numerous national/international conferences and has served as a reviewer and Applied Linguistics strand coordinator for TESOL.