Thesis (M.A.)--The Master's College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-109).

Grit and achievement motivation have been predictors of behavior in academia and military settings (Duckworth, Matthews, Peterson, & Kelly, 2007), but to date, research on their effects on sport performance has been limited. Given grit's predictive role in other performance domains, grit may be influential in athletes' long-term goal attainment, interacting with their achievement motives and leading to better performances. Athletes' trait levels of grit may influence how they understand and respond to messages received within motivational climates from key personnel such as from coaches and teammates. We examined potential moderating effects of grit on the relationship between motivational feedback and high school soccer players (N = 71, Mage = 15.81) performance on a soccer task, their desire to persist in the task, and their choices of task difficulty. We used hierarchical multiple regression to test the main effects of feedback and grit and to determine if grit moderated the effects of feedback on performance. Grit was a significant moderator of the feedback-shooting performance relationship, accounting for 3.9% of variance. Simple slopes analysis revealed a significant effect for low (B = 13.32, SEb = 4.44, p = .004, t = 2.99), but not high, (B = 2.11, SEb = 4.31, p = .63, t = .49), grit on task success. Grit was not a significant moderator of task difficulty selection or task persistence. These results suggest that for those high in grit, feedback about natural ability or hard work is not particularly influential on performance. However, for low grit athletes, type of feedback matters.

This qualitative collective case study explored how four female Latina teachers in the Central San Joaquin Valley acquired and developed the noncognitive trait of grit. Additionally, this study explored how the manifestation of this noncognitive trait of grit is demonstrated by these teachers with students in their classrooms. Through a series of interviews, and classroom observations with annotated field notes, I examined the life experiences and professional educational background of participants in order to highlight factors that are contributory and fundamental in the underpinnings of how grit developed in each of their lives. I examined and analyzed distinctive traits, specific influences, and behaviors. The theoretical framework developed by Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews and Kelly (2007) provided the background structure to help in understanding the noncognitive trait of grit. This exploration extended current scholarship on grit by exploring one specific cultural and gendered-subset of teachers to aid in the understanding of how grit emerges in teachers deemed exceptional. This qualitative case study addresses the following questions: 1. From the perspective of four female Latina teachers, what is grit? 2. From the perspectives of four female Latina teachers, in what ways has grit been acquired, developed and demonstrated? 3. From the perspective of four female Latina teachers, how has gender and race shaped their experiences in grit? 4. From the perspectives of four female Latina teachers, and as evidenced by student outcomes, how does the trait of grit impact teacher effectiveness?

The current study investigated relationships that may be crucial to women's decisions to persist in math and science-related college majors.