Relationship between Grit and Academic Achievement of Elementary and Junior High School Students: Genetic and Environmental Structure

To examine the mechanisms underlying the relationship between academic achievement and grit, we divided grit into two dimensions: interest and perseverance. We explored these dimensions at the genetic and environmental levels using a behavioral genetic approach. The participants included 295 and 606 pairs of twins in elementary school and junior high school, respectively. At the phenotypic level, academic achievement positively correlated with perseverance across all school years. However, at the genetic and environmental levels, this relationship was shaped by environmental correlations among elementary school students and genetic correlations among junior high school students.