Kids Who Play Sports End Up with More "Grit" as Adults

"Grit" is all about resolve and perseverance. And a new study found that playing SPORTS as a kid might give you more of it. Researchers polled thousands of Americans and asked them to rate how gritty they think they are.

They had to rate how true different statements were. For example, "I'm a hard worker" . . . "I'm diligent" . . . and "I never give up." And it turned out people who played youth sports were more likely to agree with statements like that.

34% ranked extremely high in grittiness compared to 23% of people who didn't play sports. And they were also much less likely to rank extremely low in grit.

Most people who played youth sports agreed it gave them a better work ethic. But the study found it had an even bigger effect than most realized. And playing sports as an adult might do it too.

There was one group it didn't hold true for though. 

People who played youth sports and QUIT them tended to rank low in grittiness. That might be because they just had less grit to begin with, or because once you quit something, it's easier to quit the next thing as well.

 

(OSU)

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