Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 1

Capturing the Dual Pillars of Grit:

The Synergistic Benefits of Perseverance and Passion for Performance

Jon M. Jachimowicz

Columbia Business School

Andreas Wihler

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

Adam D. Galinsky

Columbia Business School

Author Note

J.M. Jachimowicz designed and conducted the study. J.M. Jachimowicz and A. Wihler analyzed

the data. J.M. Jachimowicz wrote the manuscript, and A. Wihler and A.D. Galinsky provided

critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission. The

authors thank Erica Bailey, Angela Duckworth, Kristen Duke, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Andrea

Freund, Sandra Matz, Evan Nesterak, Christopher To, Aurora Turek, and Kristina Wald for

critical feedback which substantially improved this paper.

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 2

Abstract

Previous research has found mixed evidence regarding the relationship between grit—defined as

perseverance and passion for long-term goals—and performance. We propose that this

inconsistency has occurred because prior research has emphasized perseverance, both

theoretically and empirically, while insufficiently incorporating passion. We suggest that a

combination of the original grit measure—which emphasizes perseverance—with a measure that

assesses whether individuals attain desired levels of passion will predict performance. A survey

of employees matched to supervisor-rated job performance (N = 422) found that the combination

of perseverance, assessed through the original measure of grit, and passion attainment, measured

through a separate scale, predicted employees’ performance. The current results help resolve

prior mixed evidence of grit’s relationship with performance: while grit has been defined as the

combination of perseverance and passion, grit’s original measure failed to capture passion. By

adequately measuring both components, the current research uncovers grit’s predictive power.

Keywords: grit, passion, job performance, motivation

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 3

“I think the misunderstanding—or, at least, one of them—is that it’s only the
perseverance part that matters… But I think that the passion piece is at least as
important. I mean, if you are really, really tenacious and dogged about a goal that’s not
meaningful to you, and not interesting to you—then that’s just drudgery. It’s not just
determination—it’s having a direction that you care about.”
[Angela Duckworth, May 9, 2016 (New York Magazine)]

While an individuals’ skills and talent promote future performance (Collings & Mellahi,

2009; Lewis & Heckman, 2006), a recent program of research suggests that grit—defined as

“perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth et al., 2007, p. 1087)—predicts

additional variance in future success (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007;

Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Indeed, grit relates to several performance intermediaries, including

increased deliberate practice (Duckworth, Kirby, Tsukayama, Berstein, & Ericsson, 2011),

sustained retention in difficult jobs (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), and task

persistence (Lucas, Gratch, Cheng, & Marsella, 2015). These insights have even influenced the

design of school curriculums to make students “grittier” to boost their future success (Smith,

2014).

Given this evidence, one would expect to find copious studies showing that grit predicts

performance. Surprisingly, evidence linking grit and performance is actually pretty sparse. To the

best of our knowledge, only one recent study directly investigated the grit-performance

relationship, which found an insignificant effect (Ion, Mindu, Gorbăbescu, 2017). In addition,

several studies, as well as a recent meta-analysis, have not found a significant relationship

between grit and various indicators of success (Chang, 2014; Credé, Tynan, & Harms, 2017;

Ivcevic & Brackett, 2014; Rimfield, Kovas, Dale & Plomin, 2016). Overall, prior research has

thus found inconclusive evidence regarding the relationship between grit and performance.

We propose that this inconsistency has occurred because, although the definition of grit

contains the two conceptual components of perseverance and passion, the grit literature and
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consequently its measurement has focused on perseverance and does not adequately capture

passion. Indeed, the current measure of grit likely reflects perseverance alone; related to this

point, note that studies which find effects of the original grit measure on performance use

outcomes that are highly connected to perseverance (e.g., increased deliberate practice, sustained

retention, and task persistence).

The neglect of passion in the measurement of grit is particularly problematic because prior

research stresses how passion produces beneficial effects on performance through a focus on

important and meaningful goals (Cardon, Wincent, Singh, & Drnovsek, 2009; Chen, Yao, &

Kotha, 2009; Perrewé et al., 2014; Vallerand et al., 2003). In the current paper, we thus propose

that a combination of the current grit measure—which emphasizes perseverance—with a measure

that assesses whether individuals attain desired levels of passion will predict performance. We

test this proposition in a field study with employees at a technology company. In doing so, we

also address calls to examine the effects of grit outside of scholastic performance (Credé et al.,

2017).

The Absence of Passion in the Grit Literature and Measurement

From its inception, grit has stood on the dual pillars of perseverance and passion. The

definition of grit includes the word passion: “perseverance and passion for long-term goals”

(Duckworth et al., 2007, p. 1087), and the scale used to assess grit features two components

—“persistence of effort” and “consistency of interests”—the latter of which has been suggested

to measure passion (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009).

Despite the conceptual importance of passion in grit, there are theoretical and empirical

concerns about whether the original measure of grit truly captures passion. Theoretically, the

claim that “consistency of interests” equates to passion is not supported by the passion literature.

Passion has been conceptualized as the engagement in “tasks and activities that hold identity
Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 5

meaning” (Cardon et al., 2009, p. 521), which individuals both “like” and find “personally

important” (Vallerand et al., 2003, p. 757). While “consistency of interests” may be statistically

correlated with personally important and meaningful interests, they are conceptually distinct.

Consider this example: an academic may maintain a high consistency in an interest (e.g., the

revision of manuscripts as part of the publication process), but the interest itself may have little

personal value or identity meaning (e.g., revising a manuscript on an unimportant topic).

An empirical perspective similarly casts doubt on the equivalence of “consistency of

interests” and passion. Consider that a recent study finds no significant relationship between self-

rated “consistency of interests” and other-rated passion (Grohman, Ivcevic, Silvia, & Kaufman,

2017). This concern is also borne out in a recent meta-analysis (Credé et al., 2017), which reports

a corrected correlation of ρ = .60 between “persistence of effort” and “consistency of interests.”

This correlation size supports the presence of a higher-order construct (Judge, Erez, Bono, &

Thorensen, 2002), leading Credé and colleagues (2017) to conclude that the original grit scale

measures perseverance, rather than two separate components (i.e., perseverance and passion).

This discrepancy may have occurred because the grit literature has not sufficiently

connected with prior passion research. In Duckworth et al.’s (2007) seminal paper introducing

grit, the word “passion” only appears in the title of the manuscript, the definition of grit, and as a

reference to a scale the authors discard. In numerous subsequent publications, there is no

discussion or reference to passion other than the definition of grit which includes the word

passion (e.g., Duckworth & Quinn, 2009; Duckworth, Kirby, Tsukayama, Berstein, & Anders

Ericsson, 2011; Eskreis-Winkler, Shulman, Beal, & Duckworth, 2014; Robertson-Kraft &

Duckworth, 2014; Von Culin, Tsukayama, & Duckworth, 2014).

Taken together, there is considerable theoretical and empirical evidence that the scale

intended to measure both components of grit—perseverance and passion—likely captures only

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 6

perseverance. We therefore subsequently refer to what the original grit scale measures as

perseverance. However, the importance of passion has been a key component of grit’s purported

beneficial effects, as exemplified in the opening quote (see also Duckworth et al., 2007;

Duckworth, 2016). Uncovering grit’s predictive power thus requires adequate measurement of

both perseverance and passion, which prior studies have not done.

Passion as a Key Component of Grit

The original specification of grit proposed that the combination of perseverance and

passion predicts performance (Duckworth et al., 2007). Indeed, passion is essential for

perseverance to unfold its’ beneficial effects because it steers individuals toward goals they deem

valuable and important (Chen et al., 2009; Cardon et al., 2009; Vallerand et al., 2003). While

perseverance helps individuals in goal pursuit by remaining engaged, meaningful goals are

essential for individuals to attain higher performance (Vinchur, Schippmann, Switzer, & Roth,

1998). When employees pursue the wrong type of goals—those that are not valuable or important

—perseverance may not produce increased performance. In contrast, when employees pursue

meaningful and important goals, as prompted by their passion, higher perseverance may improve

their performance (Locke & Latham, 2002).

Indeed, many highly persevering individuals achieve success only when pursuing goals

they are passionate about. Consider the Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, who frequently points to

his perseverance as a key to his success. However, Bocelli originally started his career as a

lawyer—after college studies that required substantial persistence, particularly given his

blindness—and only attained success after switching to singing, “a passion he couldn’t shake”

(PBS, 2015). This example illustrates that assessing the purported benefits of the combined

effects of perseverance and passion originally proposed by grit researchers requires the adequate

measurement of both components of grit.

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 7

The Importance of Passion Attainment

The current research further highlights the importance of passion attainment, i.e.,

assessing whether people experience desired levels of passion (Jachimowicz, To, Menges, &

Akinola, 2017; Jachimowicz et al., 2018). In prior research, passion has commonly been assessed

using an adaptation of Vallerand et al.’s (2003) harmonious passion scale, which was originally

developed to assess how individuals feel about activities that are “very dear to their heart”

(Vallerand et al., 2003, p. 758). However, individuals commonly assess whether they are

experiencing desired levels of passion (Buckley, Fedor, Veres, Wiese, & Carraher, 1998; Major,

Kozlowski, Chao, & Gardner, 1995) and are guided by whether they have met this expectation

(Podsakoff, LePine, & LePine, 2007; Wanous, Poland, Premack, & Davis, 1992; Wilson, Lisle,

Kraft, & Wetzel, 1989). Indeed, a recent stream of research highlights that the experience of

passion is guided by whether an individual attains or falls short of desired levels of passion and

not by their absolute levels of harmonious passion (Jachimowicz et al., 2017, 2018). Thus, we

propose whether an individual has attained desired levels of passion will be the critical construct

for predicting performance.

Study

Context

To investigate whether grit—the combination of perseverance and passion attainment—

predicts performance, we conducted a field study with employees at a technology company. We

predicted that perseverance, as measured by the original grit scale, would only relate to increased

supervisor-rated performance when employees attained desired levels of passion, capturing the

combined benefits of both grit components. In contrast, we predicted that for employees who did

not attain desired levels of passion, there would be no significant relationship between

perseverance and performance.

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 8

Participants and Procedure

The study was conducted with employees of a technology company located in a Spanish-

speaking country. Employees work in teams guided by a supervisor who also provides annual

evaluations of subordinates with an organizationally developed measure of job performance.

Employees were contacted by an email sent out by the first author, which contained a link to the

survey hosted on Qualtrics.com. Prior to this email, the company’s Human Resources department

asked employees to take part in a study conducted by the first author. Employees were

guaranteed that their responses would be kept entirely confidential, and that their employer would

not have access to any of their responses. The email was sent out to all the firm’s 2,293

employees, and 178 emails bounced back. In addition to the employee survey data, the

company’s Human Resources team provided performance ratings for each employee. These

performance ratings were conducted in the month before the survey was sent to employees.

Prior to our data collection, we conducted an a priori power analysis using conventional

values for a small to medium effect size (f² = .075, α = .05, β = .95; 3 variables; Cohen, 1988), as

would be expected for typical interaction effects in social science (ranging from 3% to 10%;

Chaplin, 1991; Champoux & Peters, 1987). Calculations reveal that we would need a sample of

176 participants to be able to detect an effect of our hypothesized two-way interaction.

We received partial survey data from 1,265 employees and could match 560 employee-

supervisor dyads. After dropping dyads with missing data on our focal variables, implausible

data, or where we were unable to identify the corresponding supervisors, our final sample

consisted of 422 employees (response rate: 33.5%). This subset of employees did not differ in

age, gender, or tenure from partial respondents (all ps > .22). Our sample included 169 female

employees, ages ranged from 18 and 63 (M = 30.96 years, SD = 6.99), and employees had been

working in the organization for an average of 3.69 years (SD = 2.88). Overall, 85 supervisors
Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 9

provided performance ratings with an average of 5 subordinate ratings per supervisor (SD =

5.25).

Measures

Given the company’s location, we used the translation procedure outlined by Schaffer and

Riordan (2003) to adapt our measures to Spanish. Where not stated otherwise, the measures used

a 7-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

Perseverance. To measure perseverance, we used the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S; Duckworth

& Quinn, 2009). This scale consists of 8 items of the Grit Scale developed and validated by

Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, and Kelly (2007). The Short Grit Scale has improved

psychometric properties over the full Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). This measure

consists of 4 items each for two different factors, “perseverance of effort” and “consistency of

interests.” Sample items are “I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge

(perseverance of effort)” and “I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one

(reversed; consistency of interest).” Following Duckworth et al. (2007) and Duckworth and

Quinn (2009), we computed an average score across both sub-components, α = .73.

Passion Attainment. We measured the extent to which employees feel they attain their

desired level of passion for their work with three items developed and previously used by

Jachimowicz et al. (2017). These items read “I am less passionate for my work than I should be,”

“I often feel as if I have to be more passionate for my work,” and “I frequently feel obliged to be

more passionate for my work than I currently am.” We reverse-scored the items, such that higher

levels corresponded to increased passion attainment, α = .82.

Harmonious Passion. To highlight that the results are driven by passion alignment, we

also assessed harmonious passion with Vallerand et al.’s (2003) harmonious passion scale (α
Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 10

= .90). Sample items include “My work is in harmony with the other activities in my life” and

“My work is well integrated in my life.”

Job Performance. We used the organization-wide measure to assess performance which

supervisors use for annual performance evaluation. This measure was conducted and provided by

the HR department of the company, and covers different aspects of work that are important for

the organization. The performance measure varies on a scale of 1 (very poor performance) to 5

(very good performance). Given the average job performance score of 4.39 (SD = .52), we further

evaluated the skewness and kurtosis of the performance measure. Both skewness (-.80) and

kurtosis (.23) were acceptable (Curran, West, & Finch, 1996).

Control Variables. In our analyses, we also controlled for age, gender, tenure, and

motivation. Age was included because older people tend to receive worse performance

evaluations (Waldman & Avolio, 1986) and perseverance increases with age (Duckworth &

Quinn, 2009). We controlled for gender because research cannot rule out whether female

employees receive worse performance ratings (Bowen, Swim, & Jacobs, 2000); and for

organizational tenure since it has been shown to be related to job performance (Ng & Feldman,

2010). Finally, to distinguish our effects of the interaction between perseverance and passion

attainment from motivation (Von Culin et al., 2014), and to provide a more rigorous test of our

hypothesis, we also controlled for prosocial (α = .85), intrinsic (α = .88), and extrinsic (α = .83)

motivation using measures from Grant (2008). We included all control variables in subsequent

steps after first testing our predicted interaction effect separately following recommendations by

Becker (2005) and Becker et al. (2016) and to avoid spurious results in our hypothesis tests.

Results

Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 11

Prior to testing our hypothesis, we assessed the distinctiveness of the constructs (i.e.,

perseverance, passion alignment, harmonious passion, and all motivations) by conducting

confirmatory factor analyses. In the first model, items of each construct loaded onto their

respective factor (grit scale items loaded on both sub-components, which in turn loaded on a

higher-order factor of perseverance). The fit-indices were good: Χ²(334) = 845.64, RMSEA = .06,

CFI = .92, SRMR = .08. Next, we compared this model to a model where we loaded all items

from every measure on one common factor. This model fit the data worse: Χ²(350) = 3110.19,

RMSEA = .14, CFI = .55, SRMR = .12. Additionally, the fit of the first model was significantly

better: ΔΧ² = 2264.55, Δdf = 16, p < .001.

To further assess the distinctiveness of perseverance, passion attainment, and intrinsic

motivation, we conducted additional confirmatory factor analyses. In the first model, items of

perseverance, passion attainment, and intrinsic motivation loaded on their respective factor. The

model fit was good: Χ²(85) = 249.07, RMSEA = .07, CFI = .94, SRMR = .06. In the second

model, the items of perseverance and intrinsic motivation loaded together on one factor. The

model fit (Χ²(89) = 884.32, RMSEA = .15, CFI = .70, SRMR = .13) was significantly worse: ΔΧ²

= 635.25, Δdf = 4, p < .001. Finally, in the third model, the items of passion attainment and

intrinsic motivation loaded together on one factor. Again, the model fit (Χ²(87) = 478.68,

RMSEA = .10, CFI = .85, SRMR = .08) was significantly worse: ΔΧ² = 229.61, Δdf = 2, p < .001.

In addition, we also evaluated whether passion attainment and harmonious passion are

distinct constructs. In the first model, items of passion attainment and harmonious passion loaded

on their respective factor. The model fit (Χ²(26) = 91.99, RMSEA = .08, CFI = .97, SRMR = .03)

was good. Next, we combined both factors and the model fit (Χ²(27) = 324.49, RMSEA = .16,

CFI = .86, SRMR = .08) was significantly worse compared to the first model: ΔΧ² = 232.50, Δdf

= 1, p < .001. In sum, these results let us conclude that both perseverance as well as passion
Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 12

attainment are distinct constructs which can be differentiated from intrinsic motivation as well as

harmonious passion.

Correlation Table

Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, correlations, and internal consistency

reliability estimates for all variables. Neither perseverance, passion attainment, harmonious

passion, nor the motivations were correlated with job performance (-.07 < r < .02, all ns.). The

non-significant direct predictors of performance are not surprising given several previous studies

(Birkeland & Buch, 2015; Grant, 2008; Grant, Nurmohamed, Ashford, & Dekas, 2011). More

relevant for the current investigation, these correlations suggest that perseverance might have a

more complex relationship with performance (Credé et al., 2017).

*** Insert Table 1 about here ***

Multilevel Analyses

Because supervisors assessed multiple employees, the data structure is nested. We

therefore evaluated the ICC1 for job performance to examine whether multilevel analyses were

warranted. The ICC exhibited a value of .58, highlighting the need to apply multilevel analyses

(Hox, 2010). For our multilevel analyses, we centered all variables before computing the

interaction term and entering variables into the regression model.

Table 2 shows the results of our multilevel analyses. Our hypothesis was that passion

attainment moderates the relationship between perseverance and job performance. As shown in

Model 2, the corresponding interaction effect was significant (estimate = .03, S.E. = .01, γ = .14,

p = .02) and accounted for an additional 2% of variance in job performance.

The interaction between perseverance and passion attainment is depicted in Figure 1

following established guidelines (Dawson, 2014). When passion attainment was high (1 SD

above the mean), perseverance was positively related to job performance (B = .08, S.E. = .03, p
Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 13

< .001). However, when passion attainment was low (1 SD below the mean), the relationship was

not significant (B = -.02, S.E. = .03, p = .55). In addition, we computed regions of significance

(Preacher, Curran, & Bauer, 2006) that indicated a significant relationship between perseverance

and job performance for values of passion attainment above 5.27 (.09 SD above the mean).

Therefore, when employees attained desired levels of passion, higher levels of perseverance as

measured through the original grit scale were positively associated with supervisor-rated

performance. In contrast, when employees lacked the passion they desired, higher levels of

perseverance were not associated with increased supervisor-rated performance.

We subsequently tested whether our results remain significant when adding the control

variables. First, we added gender, age, and organizational tenure (Model 3). Next, we included

harmonious passion, prosocial, intrinsic, and extrinsic motivation (Model 4). Finally, we also

controlled for the interaction between perseverance and harmonious passion (Model 5). As Table

2 shows, the interaction effect remains significant in all models (Model 3: estimate = .03, S.E.

= .01, γ = .16, p = .01; Model 4: estimate = .03, S.E. = .01, γ = .16, p = .01; Model 5: estimate

= .04, S.E. = .01, γ = .19, p < .001). The values of the simple slopes also remained the same. In

sum, these results provide strong support for our hypothesis.

*** Insert Table 2 and Figure 1 about here ***

Discussion

Prior research has found mixed evidence regarding the relationship between grit and

performance. In the current research, we proposed that this inconsistency has occurred because

even though grit’s definition includes perseverance and passion the grit measure solely reflects

perseverance and does not adequately capture passion. Instead, we suggested that a combination

of the current grit measure—which emphasizes perseverance—with a measure that assesses

whether individuals attain desired levels of passion would predict performance.

Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 14

In support of our hypothesis, a field study with employees at a technology company found

that the combination of perseverance and passion attainment, the former assessed through the

original measure of grit, predicted performance: perseverance was significantly related to higher

performance only when employees attained desired levels of passion. The current results thus

help resolve prior mixed evidence of grit’s relationship with performance. In adequately

measuring both perseverance and passion attainment, the current research uncovers grit’s

predictive power.

Theoretical and Empirical Contributions

The current research extends the grit literature by more explicitly highlighting and

measuring the role of passion. Although the definition of grit includes the two components of

perseverance and passion, the measurement of grit has insufficiently captured passion. Instead,

extant research suggests that the traditional grit scale solely captures perseverance. Making an

explicit connection to the passion literature is important because grit researchers have

conceptually proposed that passion is essential for perseverance to have a positive effect on

performance (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth, 2016). The interactive effect of perseverance

and passion attainment we find in the current research provides evidence that perseverance only

propels employees forward when they experience desired levels of passion, in part because

passion direct individuals toward the pursuit of important and meaningful goals (Cardon et al.,

2009; Chen et al., 2009; Perrewé et al., 2014; Vallerand et al., 2003). As a result, the current

study also addresses prior calls to examine the effects of grit outside of scholastic performance

(Credé et al., 2017).

Limitations and Future Directions

The current research has limitations that provide opportunities for future research. The

study design was cross-sectional, which omits the possibility of investigating potential long-term
Running Head: THE DUAL PILLARS OF GRIT 15

effects of grit. In addition, the cross-sectional nature of this study does not allow us to address

concerns about reverse causality: it is possible that individuals who received lower performance

ratings also reported lower passion attainment, changing their attitudes as a response to negative

feedback regarding their competence (Wicklund & Brehm, 1968). This concern was addressed in

the current research because supervisor-rated performance ratings, although collected

immediately prior to the survey, were only disclosed to employees after the survey data collection

was completed. Nonetheless, future research should further investigate the causal nature of the

interactive effect of perseverance and passion attainment.

Because the current research was conducted in a Spanish-speaking country, specific

cultural influences may have affected the results (Gelfand, Erez, & Aycan, 2007). We note,

however, that the grit scale has been applied all over the world, with remarkably consistent

results (Credé et al., 2017; Rimfeld et al., 2016). Future research should investigate whether the

results hold across a variety of different national and organizational cultures.

Conclusion

Prior evidence regarding the relationship between grit and performance has been mixed.

The current results provide a conceptual window into these inconsistent results: although grit has

been defined in terms of both perseverance and passion, its measurement has focused on solely

on perseverance and neglected passion. In contrast, the current research demonstrates that

because perseverance and the experience of passion are crucial components of grit, only adequate

measurements of both combine to predict performance. The present research thus emphasizes the

need to more aptly incorporate research on passion in the theory and measurement of grit, which

subsequently enables the recognition of the predictive power of grit. Persevering without passion

attainment is mere drudgery, but perseverance with passion attainment propels individuals in

leaps and bounds.

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 Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations of Study Variables

M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 Gender 1.40 0.49
2 Age 30.96 6.99 -.12*
3 Organizational Tenure (in years) 3.69 2.88 -.15** .53**
4 Prosocial Motivation 6.55 0.76 -.04 .10* .05 (.85)
5 Intrinsic Motivation 5.73 1.28 -.07 .15** -.02 .37** (.88)
6 Extrinsic Motivation 3.88 1.69 .01 -.02 .03 -.04 -.19** (.83)
7 Harmonious Passion 5.49 1.28 -.09 .13** .03 .28** .69** -.26** (.90)
8 Perseverance 5.62 0.89 .06 .22** .11* .24** .28** -.27** .32** (.73)
9 Passion Attainment 5.12 1.69 -.00 .13** .00 .16** .54** -.38** .56** .39** (.82)
10 Job Performance (supervisor-rated) 4.39 0.52 .01 -.13** -.16** -.01 -.00 -.07 .02 .02 -.03 (.98)
Note. Nemployee = 422, Nsupervisor = 85, Gender (1 = male, 2 = female); *p < .05; **p < .01.
 Table 2

Multilevel Regression Analyses of Supervisor-Rated Job Performance

Job Performance (supervisor-rated)

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5
Est. (s.e.) γ Est. (s.e.) γ Est. (s.e.) γ Est. (s.e.) γ Est. (s.e.) γ
Intercept 4.41 (.04)** 4.40 (.05)** 4.40 (.05)** 4.40 (.05)** 4.40 (.05)**
Perseverance .03 (.02) .08 .03 (.02) .09 .04 (.02) .11* .04 (.02) .10+ .03 (.02) .10+
Passion Attainment .01 (.01) .05 .01 (.01) .06 .01 (.01) .07 .01 (.02) .03 .01 (.02) .05
Perseverance x Passion Attainment .03 (.01) .14* .03 (.01) .16** .03 (.01) .16* .04 (.01) .19**
Age -.01 (.00) -.13 -.06 (.00) -.13 -.01 (.00) -.12
Gender -.03 (.04) -.05 -.03 (.04) -.04 -.03 (.04) -.04
Organizational Tenure .00 (.00) .02 .00 (.00) .02 .00 (.00) .03
Harmonious Passion -.01 (.02) -.05 -.01 (.01) -.03
Prosocial Motivation -.01 (.02) -.03 -.02 (.02) -.04
Intrinsic Motivation .01 (.02) .05 .01 (.02) .05
Extrinsic Motivation -.02 (.01) -.11 -.02 (.01) -.12+
Perseverance x Harmonious Passion -.02 (.01) -.08

R2 .01 .03+ .05+ .06* .07*

ΔR2 .02* .01 .01 .01
AIC 353.77 348.37 349.51 353.02 355.18
Note. Nemployee = 422, Nsupervisor = 85; γ = standardized parameter estimates in the multilevel regression model; +p <.10, *p < .05; **p < .01.
Figure 1. Passion Attainment moderates the relationship between Perseverance (as measured by

the original Grit Scale) and Job Performance.