Relationship between Grit and Experience in High School Athletic Club Activities

Abstract

Grit, the ability to continue to work passionately and persistently on long-term goals, has been attracting attention in recent years as a factor that contributes to life success. The Grit Scale consists of two sub-scales, "consistency of interest," which is the passion to put effort into the same goal over a long period, and "persistence of effort," which is the tenacity to continuously strive for the goal. Among several activities that may increase grit, we chose coaching style in a sports club. An online survey was conducted with freshmen from a university and a vocational school who had participated in sports clubs in the past, that is, until they graduated from high-school （n=415） , and those who did not have such experience （n=88）. Sports club members were found to have higher persistence of effort than those who did not belong to sports clubs. Moreover, among sports club members, the persistence of effort score was higher after controlling the five personality scores when the club was more active and when their coach was more task-oriented. Although a causal relationship cannot be determined because this was a cross-sectional survey, this study is significant as it shows the possibility of the positive effect of continuous participation in sports and the coaching style. In the future, it is recommended that studies use various samples and a longitudinal study design.