Knowledge Bank

Grit is the combination of perseverance and passion that helps people to successfully overcome challenges both in the contexts of sport and in everyday life. Participating in sport may lead to the formation of grit as sport participation presents challenges that can offer the opportunity for athletes to learn how to problem solve, develop stronger work ethics, and persevere. Thus, this study analyzes sport participation experiences over the life course and their implications for the development of adults' grit. Data was drawn from the National Sports and Society Survey (NSASS), a large national sample of adults (N = 3,993). Two series of nested regression models analyze the relationships between sport participation and grit. The first series focuses on the relationships between sport participation levels while growing up and their perceived impact on work ethics, as a proxy for grit. The second series analyzes the relationships between sport participation levels, during childhood and over the past year, and adults' grit. Findings indicate that more sustained sport participation in childhood as well as adulthood predict higher levels of adults' grit. These findings persist even after accounting for perceptions of the extent to which childhood sport experiences affected work ethics. Sport participation while growing up, as well as in adulthood, appears to encourage the development of grit.