Grit(101)

KIPP Schools: For more information on KIPP, see www.kipp.org.

Promotes Growth Mindset and Grit: This thesaurus was originally developed by psychologist David Yeager, whom I thank for this age-general revision. On generic statements, see Daeun Park et al., “How Do Generic Statements Impact Performance? Evidence for Entity Beliefs,” Developmental Science (in press, 2015). And finally, on the importance of a “genuine” growth mindset, see Carol S. Dweck, “Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset’?” Education Week, September 22, 2015.

“never failed to imitate them”: James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name (New York: Vintage Books, 1993), 61–62.

inadvertently inculcated a fixed mindset: Daeun Park et al., “Young Children’s Motivational Frameworks and Math Achievement: Relation to Teacher-Reported Instructional Practices, but Not Teacher Theory of Intelligence,” Journal of Educational Psychology (in press, 2015).

parents react to mistakes: Kyla Haimovitz and Carol S. Dweck, “What Predicts Children’s Fixed and Growth Mindsets? Not Their Parent’s Views of Intelligence But Their Parents’ Views of Failure” (manuscript under review, 2015).

apply in a corporate setting: Harvard Business Review Staff, “How Companies Can Profit from a ‘Growth Mindset’?” Harvard Business Review, November 2014.

“tracked senior leaders”: Bill McNabb, CEO of Vanguard, in an interview with the author, August 20, 2015.

“makes me stronger”: Friedrich Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols: and Other Writings, ed. Aaron Ridley, trans. Judith Norman (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 157.

croon the same words: Kanye West, “Stronger,” Graduation, 2007. Kelly Clarkson sings a popularized version of the phrase, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” in “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” Stronger, 2011.

more confident: In fact, the idea that suffering can make us more capable is timeless. Every major religious tradition includes a parable where suffering is necessary for enlightenment. The Latin root of the word passion is pati, which means “to suffer.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, September 2015.

“tenacity in pursuit”: For more information on Outward Bound, see www.outwardbound.org.

benefits tend to increase: John A. Hattie, Herbert W. Marsh, James T. Neill, and Garry E. Richards, “Adventure Education and Outward Bound: Out-of-Class Experiences That Make a Lasting Difference,” Review of Educational Psychology 67 (1997): 43–87.

were much more vulnerable: Maier and Seligman, “Learned Helplessness.”

Steve Maier and his students: Kenneth H. Kubala et al., “Short-and Long-Term Consequences of Stressor Controllability in Adolescent Rats,” Behavioural Brain Research 234 (2012): 278–84.

“respond to stress”: Steven F. Maier, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in an interview with the author, April 2, 2015.

Milton Hershey School: Not coincidentally, Milton Hershey himself exemplified grit, having started several unsuccessful companies before developing, through trial and error, a formula for milk chocolate that would soon make his company the largest confectionary in the world. He and his wife could not have children and therefore created the Hershey School, which owns a controlling interest in Hershey stock. For more information on the Milton Hershey School and its founder, visit www.mhskids.org.

always learning and growing: If you want to hear Kayvon’s music, visit www.kayvonmusic.com.

increased their IQ scores: Sue Ramsden et al., “Verbal and Non-Verbal Intelligence Changes in the Teenage Brain,” Nature 479 (2011): 113–16.

ability to grow myelin: Carol S. Dweck, “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids,” Scientific American 23 (2015). Lisa S. Blackwell, Kali H. Trzesniewski, and Carol S. Dweck, “Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and in Intervention,” Child Development 78 (2007): 246–63. Joshua Aronson, Carrie B. Fried and Catherine Good, “Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence,” Journal of Experimental Psychology 38 (2002): 113–25. David Paunesku et al., “MindSet Interventions Are a Scalable Treatment for Academic Underachievement,” Psychological Science (2015): 1–10. Allyson P. Mackey, Kirstie J. Whitaker, and Silvia A. Bunge, “Experience-Dependent Plasticity in White Matter Microstructure: Reasoning Training Alters Structural Connectivity,” Frontiers in Neuroanatomy 6 (2012): 1–9. Robert J. Zatorre, R. Douglas Fields, and Heidi Johansen-Berg, “Plasticity in Gray and White: Neuroimaging Changes in Brain Structure During Learning,” Nature Neuroscience 15 (2012): 528–36.

“resilience training”: The Penn Resilience Program was developed by Jane Gillham, Karen Reivich, and Lisa Jaycox. This school-based program teaches cognitive-behavioral and social-emotional skills to students using role plays, games, and interactive activities. See J. E. Gillham, K. J. Reivich, L.H. Jaycox, and M. E. P. Seligman, “Preventing Depressive Symptoms in Schoolchildren: Two Year Follow-up,” Psychological Science 6 (1995): 343–51. Martin E. P. Seligman, Peter Schulman, Robert J. DeRubeis, and Steven D. Hollon, “The Prevention of Depression and Anxiety,” Prevention and Treatment 2 (1999). Note that a more recent meta-analytic review confirmed benefits of the program over twelve months post-intervention in comparison to no treatment, but not active treatment, control conditions: Steven M. Brunwasser, Jane E. Gillham, and Eric S. Kim, “A Meta-Analytic Review of the Penn Resiliency Program’s Effect on Depressive Symptoms,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 77 (2009): 1042–54.