Abstract
Grit has received great focus in both educational and psychological research; however, researchers have questioned the linear association between grit and various outcomes that might fail to capture those not gritty individuals. Therefore, the current study aimed to attend this perspective and identify (1) any significant group differences in students’ psychological illness (anxiety and depression) and well-being (gratitude and zest for life) among gritty and not gritty students, and (2) linear associations among the variables. A total of 326 university students completed the online survey package and were categorized into four groups using the mean score as the cut-off score (low-passion and low-effort, high-passion and low-effort, low-passion and high-effort, and high-passion and high-effort). Regression analysis results showed that students’ gratitude, zest, anxiety, and depression play differently in two grit facets. Further, significant group differences were found. Results indicated that students with high-passion and low-effort showed the lowest level of gratitude and zest for life, and the highest level of anxious symptoms. Students with low-passion and low-effort showed the highest level of depressive symptoms. Researchers and educators should pay more attention to those students who are passionate but insufficient in sustaining effort toward long-term goal-striving. These findings provide a hint that the imbalance between passion and effort may negatively affect students' mental health during long-term goal-striving, which may block them from striving for their long-term goals.
Author Information
Kelly Ka Lai Lam, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
Paper Information
Conference: SEACE2025
Stream: Higher education
This paper is part of the SEACE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Lam K. (2025) Chinese University Students With Gritty and Not Gritty: A Preliminary Finding on Anxiety, Depression, Gratitude, and Zest for Life ISSN: 2435-5240 The Southeast Asian Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 13-20) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-5240.2025.2
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-5240.2025.2
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