Research Hit: A Positive Attitude Boosts Passion and Grit

New research shows that indeed, a growth, positive, mindset, does boost passion and grit, at least a bit.

So those Debby downers are real downers!

Yes, this shows those negative people seem to have less passion, no surprise, but also less grit — ability to determinedly fight on and be resilient.

Is this a surprise?

Yes, and no. It may seem obvious that those with more positive attitudes may be more passionate because of their positive energy. However, resilience may be affected because when things do not go well, for example, they may be more disappointed. There is also something known as depressive realists who are those depressive people who have a much more realistic outlook on life and are better at predicting the future. Precisely because they are not so optimistic.

You may also have heard of the concept of “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset”. A growth mindset is associated with those who think in terms of grow and are more optimistic and willing to invest in learning. This took the world by storm (the educational world particularly) when Caroline Dweck published her book “Mindset” in 2006. The initial research in school children seemed to show positive effects but the…