{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.028350515463917526, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.544943820224719, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Predicting Educational Attainment: Does Grit Compensate for Low Levels of Cognitive Ability?

Abstract This study examined the role of cognitive ability in moderating grit's association with educational outcomes. Using a large, representative sample of young adults, we estimated probit models for the probability of graduating from high school, enrolling in college, earning any college degree, and earning a bachelor's degree. For each outcome, the effect of grit (and, alternatively, each lower-order facet) was allowed to differ flexibly with cognitive ability. We found that grit's estimated marginal effect is largely concentrated among students at the high and low ends of the ability distribution. The low-ability effect is more pronounced when expressed relative to the ability-specific, baseline probability of success, and the high-ability effect increases with each successive outcome. The findings are consistent with the notion that high-ability students adopt self-regulated learning processes that exploit their grit, especially as educational tasks become more challenging. For low-ability students, it appears that grit plays a compensatory role.