Grit (45 page)

“became family to her”
:
Kat Cole, president of Cinnabon, in an interview with the author, February 1, 2015.

exceeded one billion dollars
:
Charlotte Alter, “How to Run a Billion Dollar Brand Before You're 35,”
Time
, December 2, 2014.

“My passion is to help people”
:
Jo Barsh, in an interview with the author, July 31, 2015.

“like they are that person”
:
Kat Cole, “See What's Possible, and Help Others Do the Same,” from Kat Cole's blog,
The Difference
, August 7, 2013,
http://www.katcole.net/2013/08/see-whats-possible-and-help-others-do.html
.

“be a better place?”
:
David S. Yeager et al., “Boring but Important: A Self-Transcendent Purpose for Learning Fosters Academic Self-Regulation,”
Attitudes and Social Cognition
107 (2014): 559–80.

calls this idea
job crafting
:
Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane E. Dutton, “Crafting a Job: Revisioning Employees as Active Crafters of Their Work,”
Academy of Management Review
26 (2001): 179–201. See also
www.jobcrafting.org
and Grant,
Give and Take
, 262–63. This section also reflects personal correspondence between the author and Amy Wrzesniewski, professor of organizational behavior at Yale School of Management, October 20, 2015.

“be a better person”
:
Interested readers can find a more complete list of questions that Bill Damon uses in his book,
The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life
(New York: Free Press, 2008), 183–86.

getting up again
:
For a more expansive discussion of how hope can be conceptualized, see Kevin L. Rand, Allison D. Martin, and Amanda M. Shea, “Hope, but Not Optimism, Predicts Academic Performance of Law Students Beyond Previous Academic Achievement,”
Journal of Research in Personality
45 (2011): 683–86. Also see Shane J. Lopez,
Making Hope Happen: Create the Future You Want for Yourself and Others
(New York: Atria Books, 2013).

major
in—neurobiology:
At Harvard until 2006, you actually declared your “concentration” (which is Harvard's terminology for “major”), in the spring of your freshman year and at the same time mapped out every class you intended to take. My official concentration was the neurobiology track within biology, since neurobiology as a separate concentration was not created until years later.

the punishments to stop
:
Steven F. Maier and Martin E. Seligman, “Learned Helplessness: Theory and Evidence,”
Journal of Experimental Psychology
105 (1976): 3–46. The seminal studies on learned helplessness actually had a triadic design, meaning that there was a third condition: dogs who received no shock at all. In general, these dogs behaved similarly to those who were subjected to stress
with
control. Some of the material in this chapter is from an interview between Seligman and the author, July 20, 2015. See also Martin E. P. Seligman,
Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life
(New York: Pocket Books, 1990).

practical antidotes for depression
:
For more information on Aaron Beck, see
www.beckinstitute.org
.

distinguish optimists from pessimists
:
Christopher Peterson et al., “The Attributional Style Questionnaire,”
Cognitive Therapy and Research
6 (1982): 287–300. See also Lyn Y. Abramson, Gerald I. Metalsky, and Lauren B. Alloy, “Hopelessness Depression: A Theory-Based Subtype of Depression,”
Psychological Review
96 (1989): 358–72.

suffer from depression and anxiety
:
Peter Schulman, Camilo Castellon, and Martin E. P. Seligman, “Assessing Explanatory Style: The Content Analysis of Verbatim Explanations and the Attributional Style Questionnaire,”
Behavioural Research and Therapy
27 (1989): 505–9.

drop out of school
:
Leslie P. Kamen and Martin E. P. Seligman, “Explanatory Style Predicts College Grade Point Average” (unpublished manuscript, 1985). Christopher Peterson and Lisa C. Barrett, “Explanatory Style and Academic Performance Among University Freshman,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
53 (1987): 603–7.

stay healthier
:
Toshihiko Maruto, Robert C. Colligan, Michael Malinchoc, and Kenneth P. Offord, “Optimists vs. Pessimists: Survival Rate Among Medical Patients Over a 30-Year Period,”
Mayo Clinic Proceedings
75 (2000): 140–43. Christopher Peterson, Martin E. P. Seligman, “Pessimistic Explanatory
Style Is a Risk Factor for Physical Illness: A Thirty-Five-Year Longitudinal Study,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
55 (1988): 23–27.

satisfied with their marriages
:
Karen J. Horneffer and Frank D. Fincham, “Construct of Attributional Style in Depression and Marital Distress,”
Journal of Family Psychology
9 (1995): 186–95. See also, Horneffer and Fincham, “Attributional Models of Depression and Distress,”
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
22 (1996): 678–89.

sell about 25 percent more insurance
:
On optimism and sales, see Martin E. P. Seligman and Peter Schulman, “Explanatory Style as a Predictor of Productivity and Quitting Among Life Insurance Sales Agents,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
50 (1986): 832–38. Shulman, “Explanatory Style.” See also Peter Schulman, “Applying Learned Optimism to Increase Sales Productivity,”
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
19 (1999): 31–37.

swim in his or her best event
:
Martin E. P. Seligman, “Explanatory Style as a Mechanism of Disappointing Athletic Performance,”
Psychological Science
1 (1990): 143–46.

“I will just carry on”
:
Lacey, interview.

could be the target of therapy
:
Aaron T. Beck, A. John Rush, Brian F. Shaw, and Gary Emery,
Cognitive Therapy of Depression
(New York: Guilford Press, 1979). Also note that, in the same era, Albert Ellis developed a similar approach. So Beck and Ellis are jointly recognized as pioneers in what is now commonly referred to as cognitive behavioral therapy.

longer-lasting in its effects
:
Robert J. DeRubeis et al., “Cognitive Therapy vs Medications in the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Depression,”
Archives of General Psychiatry
62 (2005): 409–16. Steven D. Hollon et al., “Prevention of Relapse Following Cognitive Therapy vs Medications in Moderate to Severe Depression,”
Archives of General Psychiatry
62 (2005): 417–22. Some patients struggle with the aspect of CBT that involves trying to talk themselves out of their negative self-talk. These patients say things like: “In my head, I know it's not fair to call myself a loser. I'm labeling myself, I'm engaging in all-or-nothing thinking. But in my heart, part of me still feels like a loser—like I'll never be good enough.” A new form of CBT, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), addresses these concerns. In ACT, the goal is simply to notice any negative self-talk and accept that it exists, while not letting it control your actions.

“Relentless pursuit”
:
Information on Teach For America's mission and history can be found at
www.teachforamerica.org
.

optimistic teachers were grittier
:
Claire Robertson-Kraft and Angela L. Duckworth, “True Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-term Goals Predicts Effectiveness and Retention Among Novice Teachers,”
Teachers College Record (1970)
116 (2014): 1–24.

one of Carol's first studies
:
Carol S. Dweck, “The Role of Expectations and Attributions in the Alleviation of Learned Helplessness,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
31 (1975): 674–85.

assess a person's theory of intelligence
:
This measure was developed by Carol Dweck, Sheri Levy, Valanne MacGyvers, C.Y. Chiu, and Ying-yi Hong. For interested readers, I highly recommend Carol Dweck,
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
(New York: Ballantine Books, 2008).

positive social relationships
:
See Carol S. Dweck, “Mindsets and Human Nature: Promoting Change in the Middle East, the Schoolyard, the Racial Divide, and Willpower,”
American Psychologist
(2012): 614–22.

persist through college
:
Brian Galla et al., “Intellective, Motivational, and Self-Regulatory Determinants of High School Grades, SAT Scores, and College Persistence” (manuscript under review, 2015).

KIPP Schools
:
For more information on KIPP, see
www.kipp.org
.

Promotes Growth Mindset and Grit
:
This thesaurus was originally developed by psychologist David Yeager, whom I thank for this age-general revision. On generic statements, see Daeun Park et al., “How Do Generic Statements Impact Performance? Evidence for Entity Beliefs,”
Developmental Science
(in press, 2015). And finally, on the importance of a “genuine” growth mindset, see Carol S. Dweck, “Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset' ”
Education Week
, September 22, 2015.

“never failed to imitate them”
:
James Baldwin,
Nobody Knows My Name
(New York: Vintage Books, 1993), 61–62.

inadvertently inculcated a fixed mindset
:
Daeun Park et al., “Young Children's Motivational Frameworks and Math Achievement: Relation to Teacher-Reported Instructional Practices, but Not Teacher Theory of Intelligence,”
Journal of Educational Psychology
(in press, 2015).

parents react to mistakes
:
Kyla Haimovitz and Carol S. Dweck, “What Predicts Children's Fixed and Growth Mindsets? Not Their Parent's Views of Intelligence But Their Parents' Views of Failure” (manuscript under review, 2015).

apply in a corporate setting
:
Harvard Business Review Staff, “How Companies Can Profit from a ‘Growth Mindset' ”
Harvard Business Review
, November 2014.

“tracked senior leaders”
:
Bill McNabb, CEO of Vanguard, in an interview with the author, August 20, 2015.

“makes me stronger”
:
Friedrich Nietzsche,
The Anti-Christ, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols: and Other Writings
, ed. Aaron Ridley, trans. Judith Norman (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 157.

croon the same words
:
Kanye West, “Stronger,”
Graduation
, 2007. Kelly Clarkson sings a popularized version of the phrase, “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,” in “Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You),”
Stronger
, 2011.

more confident
:
In fact, the idea that suffering can make us more capable is timeless. Every major religious tradition includes a parable where suffering is necessary for enlightenment. The Latin root of the word
passion
is
pati
, which means “to suffer.”
OED
Online, Oxford University Press, September 2015.

“tenacity in pursuit”
:
For more information on Outward Bound, see
www.outwardbound.org
.

benefits tend to increase
:
John A. Hattie, Herbert W. Marsh, James T. Neill, and Garry E. Richards, “Adventure Education and Outward Bound: Out-of-Class Experiences That Make a Lasting Difference,”
Review of Educational Psychology
67 (1997): 43–87.

were much more vulnerable
:
Maier and Seligman, “Learned Helplessness.”

Steve Maier and his students
:
Kenneth H. Kubala et al., “Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Stressor Controllability in Adolescent Rats,”
Behavioural Brain Research
234 (2012): 278–84.

“respond to stress”
:
Steven F. Maier, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in an interview with the author, April 2, 2015.

Milton Hershey School
:
Not coincidentally, Milton Hershey himself exemplified grit, having started several unsuccessful companies before developing, through trial and error, a formula for milk chocolate that would soon make his company the largest confectionary in the world. He and his wife could not have children and therefore created the Hershey School, which owns a controlling interest in Hershey stock. For more information on the Milton Hershey School and its founder, visit
www.mhskids.org
.

always learning and growing
:
If you want to hear Kayvon's music, visit
www.kayvonmusic.com
.

increased their IQ scores
:
Sue Ramsden et al., “Verbal and Non-Verbal Intelligence Changes in the Teenage Brain,”
Nature
479 (2011): 113–16.

ability to grow myelin
:
Carol S. Dweck, “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids,”
Scientific American
23 (2015). Lisa S. Blackwell, Kali H. Trzesniewski, and Carol S. Dweck, “Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and in Intervention,”
Child Development
78 (2007): 246–63. Joshua Aronson, Carrie B. Fried and Catherine Good, “Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence,”
Journal of Experimental Psycholog
y 38 (2002): 113–25. David Paunesku et al., “Mind-Set Interventions Are a Scalable Treatment for Academic Underachievement,”
Psychological Science
(2015): 1–10. Allyson P. Mackey, Kirstie J. Whitaker, and Silvia A. Bunge, “Experience-Dependent Plasticity in White Matter Microstructure: Reasoning Training Alters Structural Connectivity,”
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy
6 (2012): 1–9. Robert J. Zatorre, R. Douglas Fields, and Heidi Johansen-Berg, “Plasticity in Gray and White: Neuroimaging Changes in Brain Structure During Learning,”
Nature Neuroscience
15 (2012): 528–36.