Grit is most commonly measured using a self-report questionnaire called the Grit Scale, developed by psychologist Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania. The original 12-item version (Grit-O) and a shorter 8-item version (Grit-S) both score you on a scale from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more grit. The assessment takes less than five minutes and is freely available online.
What the Grit Scale Actually Measures
Grit, as Duckworth defines it, has two components: consistency of interests and perseverance of effort. The Grit Scale measures both through separate sets of questions. Consistency of interests captures whether you tend to stick with the same goals over months and years, or whether you frequently shift direction. Perseverance of effort captures whether you push through setbacks, finish what you start, and maintain your work ethic when things get hard.
Your total grit score is the average of your responses across all items, each rated on a 5-point scale from “not at all like me” to “very much like me.” A score of 5 means extremely gritty. A score of 3 places you roughly in the middle of most populations studied. Duckworth’s research on West Point cadets, National Spelling Bee finalists, and Ivy League students found that grit scores predicted who would persist through difficult challenges better than IQ, talent measures, or self-discipline alone.
The 12-Item vs. 8-Item Version
The original Grit Scale (Grit-O) contains 12 questions, six for each subscale. Duckworth later developed the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) with 8 questions, four per subscale, after finding it performed just as well statistically. The Grit-S is now the more widely used version in research and practical settings because it’s quicker and equally reliable.
Sample items from the perseverance subscale include statements like “I finish whatever I begin” and “Setbacks don’t discourage me. I don’t give up easily.” From the consistency subscale, you’ll see items like “I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one” (reverse-scored, meaning agreeing lowers your grit score) and “I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.” You rate how much each statement sounds like you, and the average across all items becomes your score.
How to Take the Assessment
You can take the Grit-S for free on Angela Duckworth’s website (angeladuckworth.com), where you’ll receive your score immediately along with a percentile comparison. The scoring is straightforward: add up your ratings for all items (after reversing scores on the consistency items, where the “gritty” answer is disagreeing with the statement), then divide by the number of items. Several psychology research sites and educational platforms also host validated versions of the scale.
When taking the assessment, honest self-reflection matters more than trying to score high. The scale is only as accurate as your willingness to answer truthfully. There are no trick questions, and the statements are deliberately plain. The challenge is resisting the urge to answer based on who you want to be rather than who you actually are right now.
How Reliable Is the Grit Scale?
The Grit Scale shows solid internal consistency, meaning the items within each subscale tend to agree with each other. Test-retest reliability is also reasonable, so your score shouldn’t swing wildly from week to week. That said, the scale has drawn legitimate criticism from researchers.
One recurring finding is that the two subscales don’t always behave the same way. Perseverance of effort tends to predict outcomes like academic achievement and job performance more strongly than consistency of interests does. Some researchers argue that the perseverance component overlaps heavily with conscientiousness, one of the Big Five personality traits, raising the question of whether grit is truly a distinct quality or a repackaging of something psychologists already measure well. A 2017 meta-analysis found that grit’s predictive power dropped substantially after accounting for conscientiousness.
Another limitation is that the scale relies entirely on self-report. People aren’t always accurate judges of their own persistence, and social desirability bias can inflate scores, particularly in high-stakes settings like job applications or military selection. There’s no behavioral task or objective measure built into the standard assessment.
Other Ways Grit Gets Measured
Beyond the Grit Scale, researchers and organizations sometimes use alternative or complementary approaches. Informant reports, where someone who knows you well rates you on the same items, can reduce self-report bias. Some studies use behavioral proxies: how many years someone has practiced a skill, whether they completed a grueling training program, or how many times they attempted a difficult task before quitting.
In educational settings, teachers sometimes rate students on grit-related behaviors like staying focused during frustrating assignments or returning to difficult problems after initial failure. These observational ratings capture something the self-report questionnaire can miss, though they introduce the observer’s own biases.
A few researchers have experimented with performance-based measures, designing lab tasks where participants can choose to persist on an increasingly difficult or tedious challenge. These behavioral tasks correlate only modestly with Grit Scale scores, suggesting that what people say about their persistence and what they actually do in the moment don’t always align.
What Your Score Means in Practice
A grit score between 4 and 5 places you among the grittier individuals in most studied populations. Scores between 3 and 4 are typical. Below 3 suggests you may frequently shift between interests or struggle to maintain effort on long-term projects when motivation dips.
Your score is not fixed. Duckworth’s own research suggests grit tends to increase with age, likely because people naturally develop clearer interests and better work habits over time. Interventions that help people connect daily effort to meaningful long-term goals, develop deliberate practice habits, and build a sense of purpose have shown modest effects on grit-related behaviors, though no single program reliably produces large, lasting changes in grit scores.
It’s also worth keeping the score in perspective. Grit predicts meaningful outcomes, but it explains a relatively small portion of the variation in success. Talent, opportunity, resources, social support, and luck all play substantial roles. A low grit score doesn’t mean you’re destined to quit everything, and a high score doesn’t guarantee you’ll achieve your goals. The scale is best used as a prompt for honest self-reflection rather than a definitive label.