Grit test (Grit Scale)
See what the Grit Scale actually measures, how it is scored, and how a result is read against the population that actually fits you.
The Grit Scale is the original measure of grit, defined by psychologist Angela Duckworth as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. First published in 2007, it became one of the most talked-about ideas in psychology, and it captures two related habits: sticking with effort when things get hard, and keeping the same interests and goals over time.
The model
What it measures
The Grit Scale measures grit through two facets, shown below: perseverance of effort (working hard, finishing what you start) and consistency of interest (keeping the same goals and passions over years rather than switching). The two are averaged into an overall grit score, but reading them separately is more informative, because a person can be very persevering yet have shifting interests, or the reverse.
The items are short self-descriptions; the consistency-of-interest items are reverse-keyed, so that after reversal a higher value always means grittier. The aspects listed under each facet are illustrative descriptions of how it shows up, not separately scored items.
- CIConsistency of Interest
Keeping the same goals and passions over time rather than frequently switching interests (the items are reverse-keyed).
Facets: Stable long-term interests, Staying with chosen goals, Not easily distracted by new projects, Sustained focus over years.
- PEPerseverance of Effort
Working hard, bouncing back from setbacks, and finishing what you begin.
Facets: Hard worker, Resilience after setbacks, Finishing what is started, Diligence and follow-through.
The evidence
Science and validity
The Grit Scale predicts real outcomes: educational attainment, retention of West Point cadets through gruelling training, performance in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and (inversely) the number of career changes a person makes. Internal consistency for the overall scale is good (Cronbach's alpha around .85), and the two facets load onto a single higher-order grit factor. A widely used 8-item short form, the Grit-S, trims the original 12 items and tends to fit slightly better.
You rate each statement from "very much like me" to "not like me at all". The consistency-of-interest items are reverse-scored, and then the items are averaged to a 1-5 score where higher means grittier. There are no clinical cut-offs; the result is read against a comparison group. An important caveat from the research itself: grit, and especially the perseverance-of-effort facet, overlaps very strongly with Big Five conscientiousness (correlations around .7 to .8), so a fair question is how much grit adds beyond conscientiousness - meta-analytic work suggests its incremental prediction of performance is modest.
Where you stand
How a score becomes a percentile
A score only means something against a comparison group. Grit runs from 1 to 5, and in adult samples the overall average sits a little above the midpoint, near 3.5. For example, a perseverance-of-effort score of 4.1 sits modestly above a typical adult mean near 3.7, placing it around the 70th percentile - more drive and follow-through than most adults in that group - while a consistency-of-interest score nearer the average means interests that shift a bit more. Drag the sliders to see how a score on each facet maps to a percentile; your real result is matched to the population that fits you when you take the test.
The reference data
Benchmarked against the population that fits you
We benchmark your result against the population that actually resembles you, across 20 reference groups.
Each reference group is used as its own benchmark, not to rank one country against another.
How it works
What the questions feel like
Illustrative statements showing the style of the items. These are examples, not the official scored items.
I keep working at something even after setbacks knock me back.
Illustrative example in the style of the scale, not an official scored item.
I tend to finish whatever I decide to start.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
New projects often pull my attention away from the ones I was working on.
Illustrative reverse-keyed example, not an official scored item.
My main interests tend to change quite a lot from year to year.
Illustrative reverse-keyed example, not an official scored item.
Honest strengths and limitations
Strengths
- A short (about 3 minutes), free, well-known measure of perseverance and passion for long-term goals, with two interpretable facets.
- Predicts real-world persistence outcomes such as training retention, educational attainment and competitive performance.
- Open for research and education with attribution, and available in a validated 8-item short form across 20+ languages.
Limitations
- Grit overlaps very heavily with Big Five conscientiousness (correlations around .7 to .8), and reviews question how much it predicts beyond conscientiousness - so a grit score is best seen as a focused view of that territory, not a wholly separate trait.
- The two facets behave differently: perseverance of effort drives most of grit's predictive power, while consistency of interest adds less, so the single overall score can blur a meaningful split.
- It is a self-report of habits and can be shaped by self-presentation; published norm samples (e.g. self-selected online adults, mostly women) are not nationally representative, so percentiles are a guide, not a verdict.
See your full profile
A complete report, matched to the population that fits you, with plain-language interpretation of every trait.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Grit Scale measure?
It measures grit - perseverance and passion for long-term goals - through two facets: perseverance of effort (working hard and finishing what you start) and consistency of interest (keeping the same goals over time). The two are averaged into an overall grit score.
How is the Grit Scale scored?
You rate each statement from "very much like me" to "not like me at all". The consistency-of-interest items are reverse-scored, then all items are averaged to a 1-5 score where higher means grittier. There are no clinical cut-offs; the score is read against a comparison group.
Is grit just the same as conscientiousness?
Not quite, but they overlap a lot. Grit correlates around .7 to .8 with Big Five conscientiousness, especially through the perseverance-of-effort facet, and reviews find it adds only modestly beyond conscientiousness in predicting performance. Grit is best understood as a focused, goal-oriented slice of that same territory rather than a wholly separate trait.
Is the Grit Scale free to use?
Yes, for research and education with attribution, via the Duckworth Lab. On Psychology.me, the free Snapshot gives you a quick read on perseverance and consistency of interest alongside other traits.
Related tests
- Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087-1101.
- Duckworth, A. L., & Quinn, P. D. (2009). Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 166-174.
The Grit Scale is the work of Angela L. Duckworth and colleagues (Duckworth et al., 2007; Grit-S, Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), free to use with attribution for research and education via the Duckworth Lab; this independent informational page describes the instrument.