Are Grit and Mental Toughness Teachable?

Are grit and mental toughness born traits or can they be taught and coached?

Before diving into strategies to teach grit and mental toughness, it’s important to understand their origins. Are these qualities determined by genetics, or can they be developed through training and experience?

The Genetics of Grit and Mental Toughness

A large body of research shows that while Grit (perseverance and passion for long term goals) and Mental Toughness (perseverance in a goal-directed pursuit in the present moment) have a genetic component, they are also significantly shaped by environmental factors. Quantifying how much genetics versus environment influences these traits has been a challenging endeavor, but one notable study provides valuable insights.

In 2016 Dr. Kaili Rimfeld and colleagues in the UK conducted a twin-pair study analyzing 4,642 sixteen-year old twins (2,321 twin-pairs). Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, their study explored two major components of grit: Perseverance of Effort and Consistency of Interest. Key findings included:

  • Perseverance of Effort, 37% heritable (influenced by genetics)
  • Consistency of Interest, 20% heritable

Interestingly the remaining percentages (63% for Perseverance and 80% for Consistency) are largely due to non-shared environmental factors (individual experiences unique to each person) rather than shared environmental influences such as family upbringing. The study also found that grit and conscientiousness (the ability to exercise self-discipline and self-control in order to pursue and ultimately achieve goals) were influenced by the same genetic factors (correlation of 86%). Essentially Grit isn’t that much different from conscientiousness – it can be seen as a specific expression of it in the context of perseverance.

What Does This Mean for Coaches?

With the usual caution and caveats about how this applies to rowing, different age groups, and other variables, what should coaches take away from this?

  • Grit is about one-third genetic and two-thirds environmental. While some athletes are naturally grittier, there’s significant room to grow this quality through intentional strategies.
  • Individualized opportunities that challenge athletes to persevere can be more effective than generalized approaches.
  • Strategies that nurture conscientiousness—such as goal setting, consistent routines, and rewarding effort—are also likely to develop grit.

Is Mental Toughness Teachable?

Mental toughness (perseverance in a goal-directed pursuit in the present moment) is closely related to grit but plays a distinct role in handling stress. While grit keeps athletes showing up day after day, mental toughness gets them through the critical moments when the stakes are highest.

In 2020, Andreas Stamatis and his colleagues conducted a systematic review and “meta-analysis” of Mental Toughness (MT) training in sport. A meta-analysis is a statistical method used to combine and analyze data from multiple independent studies on the same topic. It aims to identify patterns, derive stronger conclusions, or resolve inconsistencies across studies. They identified 324 articles, screened them for quality and focus, eliminated 312 of them, and ended analyzing 12 “rigorous” studies. The conclusions of the study were:

  • MT can be taught: Interventions to develop mental toughness had a large positive effect, proving their value for coaches.
  • Method matters: No single method has been proven superior, and results vary widely.
  • Physical training alone isn’t enough: Successful programs combine mental skills training with physical training.
  • Gradual progress is key: Long-term, consistent interventions yield better results than short-term, intensive programs.

Takeaways for Coaches

Our original question was “Are grit and mental toughness born traits, or can they be taught and coached?” The answer is;

  • There is a significant genetic component (likely around a third), but;
  • The larger part of grit and mental toughness can be taught and learned, and;
  • Their development requires intentionality

How to be more intentional is explored further in two further articles; How Do You Teach Grit? and How Do You Teach Mental Toughness?

The Role of Youth Coaches

One parting thought comes from Mae-Hyang Hwang and JeeEun Karin Nam, authors of Enhancing Grit: Possibility and Intervention Strategies. They highlight that grit is closely tied to executive function and frontal lobe development. While it’s possible to develop grit at any age, childhood and adolescence are particularly critical periods.

This underscores the vital role of youth coaches in shaping not only athletic performance but also the character and resilience of young athletes—skills that serve them well beyond the sport. Yet another reason to value the role of the youth coach in society!

  • Rimfeld et al. 2016. “True Grit and Genetics: Predicting Academic Achievement from Personality.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111 (5): 780–89.
  • Stamatis et al. 2020. “Developing and Training Mental Toughness in Sport: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies and Pre-Test and Post-Test Experiments.” BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 6 (1): e000747
  • Hwang & Nam. 2021. “Enhancing Grit: Possibility and Intervention Strategies.” In Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Grit: Contemporary Theories, Assessments, Applications and Critiques, edited by Llewellyn Ellardus van Zyl, Chantal Olckers, and Leoni van der Vaart, 77–93. Cham: Springer International Publishing.