The Surprising Correlation Between Happiness And Grit
Americans love grit. The can-do character. The never-die spirit. The plucky underdog. We applaud Rocky when, having been battered and humiliated, he gets back up again….and again….and again.
In past blog posts, I’ve written about how we see grit as a core element of startup success. Often, startups win by enduring; they don’t so much sprint to success as they slowly grind their way forward. Startups “take a licking and keep on ticking” to survive market indifference, their own errors, and the arduous process of experimentation and adjustment needed to get a product just right.
Now, science indicates there may be even more reasons to love grit. It appears that being gritty in one’s response to life actually directly correlates with life satisfaction and happiness. A study just published in The Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin finds that perseverance relates strongly with life satisfaction. Interestingly, the study found that it is the doing, not merely the passion, that propelled the happiness reaction.
“Affective well-being is characterized by the presence of positive or pleasant affect (e.g., happiness) and the absence of negative or unpleasant affect (e.g., depression). Cognitive well-being, on the contrary, refers to the cognitive evaluation of overall life (i.e., life satisfaction) as well as of specific life domains (e.g., job satisfaction, school satisfaction),” wrote the paper’s authors in classic academese.
So, like the Little Engine That Could chugged up that hill puffing, “I think I can, I think I can,” it is the courage to take that action that is key to the joy the Engine feels at the summit. And note that it is I think I can, not I know I can. Fundamental to grit is the commitment to move forward in the face of doubt. Who knows what the ultimate outcome will be? But I will persevere nevertheless.
Why does grit tie to happiness? The study’s authors are shtum on this, but one reason, I expect, is that grit comes from looking within — by confronting the fear, irresolution, and incompleteness one finds there and acting anyway. In persevering, a person can discover that they are sufficient, complete, and able to the task. “Yes, I am good enough,” is the inner answer these behaviors can bring.
There may also be an external component here. As proven by the aforementioned Rocky scenario, the crowd loves someone who just won’t give up. The gritty individual gains the approbation of others. Those with grit are admired, respected, and considered a person of trust and value.
Whatever the cause, there can be little doubt at this point that, to paraphrase Gordon Gekko, Grit is Good.
By Managing Partner Mike Edelhart
@MikeEdelhart
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