PSYC FPX 4600 Assessment 1 Literature Review

Introduction

Personality influences how we pursue our goals, how we cope with challenges, and how we seize opportunities. The Big Five personality traits, together with motivational factors, are commonly used in describing personality. Lately, two personality traits, namely, grit and openness in experience, have become the center of attention in personality and motivational studies. Grit is a personality trait that entails persistence and passion for long-term goals, while openness in experience is a personality trait that entails curiosity, inventiveness, and open-mindedness in accepting new ideas (Andales et al., 2025). The study of these two personality traits is expected to provide insight into how personality is formed and how success is achieved in our chosen fields of endeavor.

The question of interest is: Is there a positive association between grit and openness in experience in adults? The two traits are important in ensuring our compliance and success in life. Individuals who exhibit high levels of grit exhibit commitment to long-term goals, while individuals who exhibit high levels of openness in experience exhibit curiosity and inventiveness as we interact with our surroundings. The two personality traits in psychology have become the center of attention in ensuring success in academics and in our workplaces. For instance, openness enables us to explore our surroundings, while grit enables us to achieve our goals (Andales et al., 2025). The association of grit and openness in motivation and achievement has not yet received extensive attention.

The Role of Grit in Goal Persistence and Achievement

Grit, this drive to push forward towards some larger purpose, has always seemed like a guiding force to stay focused and push forward towards success. As Apro et al. (2024) describe, “Individuals with high levels of grit tend to hold tightly to their lofty long-term goals and keep going even when obstacles arise.” They emphasize how persistence and interest are two sides of the same coin that help create grit and keep an individual focused on long-term success. Yudiarti and Putranta (2022) also emphasize how grit is connected to high levels of work engagement and persistence in adult careers.

The study demonstrates how an individual with high levels of grit is able to succeed in the current ever-changing job market and reach long-term success in this changing world that is constantly in flux. Grit is also connected to mental resilience and academic success. As Tang and Zhu (2024) describe, “Individuals with high levels of grit are more likely to persist in school and effectively deal with academic demands.” The study demonstrates how grit is connected to an individual staying focused on long-term success by the motivation that is embedded in the idea of grit itself. While the study demonstrates how grit is connected to success and perseverance, the authors emphasize how grit is not enough and that other factors, such as curiosity and exploration, could be just as important to success itself.

Openness in Experience and Cognitive Flexibility

Openness of experience is one of the Big Five personality traits. It is all about being curious, imagining things, mentally engaging, and being ready to entertain something new. Raya et al. (2023) conducted a study that proved that openness in experience has a high correlation with inventiveness and cognitive flexibility. All these traits enable an individual to look at things from different perspectives. Tang and Zhu proved in 2024 that openness in experience is correlated with compliance and lifelong learning. From their findings, it is clear that openness is associated with an individual’s interest in activities that help in increasing knowledge and expertise. This is to say that openness in experience, along with these traits, is what enables growth in an individual’s life.

Openness of experience is also associated with an individual’s compliance and innovativeness in the workplace. Chanie et al. (2023) conducted a study that proved that openness in experience has positive correlations with proactive work behavior. An individual who scores high in openness is seen as an individual who is good at adapting to the environment and is willing to try new experiences that improve their growth. The three traits of openness, inventiveness, and flexibility are essential in the face of new opportunities. However, the absence of openness does not necessarily mean that the individual lacks the persistence of long-term goals, thus the need for grit.

The Interaction between Personality Traits and Motivation

However, recent studies have shown that personality traits do not function independently. Instead, they function in a cluster that influences what drives us to succeed. For example, Andales et al. (2025) have shown that conscientiousness, openness in experiences, and grit can function in a cluster to drive goal pursuits. Yudiarti and Putranta (2022) have shown that openness in experiences and grit can function together to drive proactive behavior that promotes long-term career advancement.

While openness in experiences can drive people to pursue new experiences, grit can provide the necessary drive to pursue these experiences. Similarly, Agrawal et al. (2022) have shown that a cluster of grit and openness in experiences can function to enhance the likelihood of personal growth and flexibility at work. While openness in experiences can drive people to plan and come up with ideas, grit can drive people to pursue these ideas. Although there have been advances in the study of personality, most studies have focused on individual personality traits. Therefore, the relationship between openness in experiences and grit has not been sufficiently explored.

Limitations

However, there has been some new research that has helped us understand the relationship between personality traits and motivation and success. However, there are some limitations that have been observed in the research. First and foremost, the research has been conducted using personality scales that have the potential for biases. For instance, individuals have the tendency to overreport their grit and interest level. This has the potential to create biases in the results (Agrawal et al., 2022). Moreover, the research has been conducted on university students and Western individuals. However, this might not be applicable to other cultures (Tang & Zhu, 2024). Another limitation that has been observed in the research is that the traits of grit and openness have been studied individually. However, the relationship between the traits has not been studied. If this is done, a better understanding of the relationship between the traits can be obtained.

Theory and Hypothesis

The literature review is grounded in the Big Five Personality Theory. The Big Five Personality Theory consists of five broad dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The dimension of openness includes curiosity and the drive to explore and investigate. Grit is included under conscientiousness and represents drive and persistence in attaining set objectives and goals (Andales et al., 2025). In this context, personality influences how an individual behaves and conducts themselves. Individuals with high levels of openness are more likely to explore and search for opportunities and ideas (Rayá et al., 2023).

Grit represents the drive and persistence required to pursue long-term objectives and goals. The interaction between openness and grit is expected to result in growth in various aspects and dimensions of life. Based on the literature reviewed above, the hypothesis is as follows: Adults with high levels of openness in experience are expected to have high levels of grit. Therefore, there is an expected positive relationship between openness and grit that is statistically significant. This is based on the assumption that curiosity and the drive to explore and experience novel and unique experiences are closely related to the motivation and drive required to pursue long-term objectives and goals.

Variables

In this study, openness in experience is considered as an independent variable. To measure this, a personality test will be administered, akin to a personality test like the Big Five Inventory, which measures how curious, creative, and mentally engaging a person is. Grit, as a dependent variable, will be measured by means of the Grit Scale, which measures aspects of grit like persistence and passion for long-range goals (Oradini et al., 2022). By studying these two variables, it is hoped that it can be determined if there is a connection between having high levels of openness in experience and having high levels of grit.

Conclusion

Personality studies have shown that grit and openness in experience are significant factors in the prediction of success and motivation. Grit is the persistence and passion for pursuing long-term goals, while openness is the curiosity and readiness to explore. Recent research has shown that grit and openness are independent predictors of the drive for success in an individual. The literature has shown that these factors can be used in the prediction of success and the ability to stay the course in long-term goals despite the changes in the environment. However, the personality studies need more research since most of the self-report studies lack diversity, which is essential in the understanding of the interaction of these personalities and the prediction of success.

References

Agrawal, D., Chukkali, S., & Singh, S. (2022). Antecedents and consequences of grit among working adults: A transpersonal psychology perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896231

Andales, R. C., Capuno, R. M., Cerbas, M. K., Mulit, J., Embradora, K. J., & Bacatan, J. (2025). Grit and resilience as predictors of psychological well-being among students. European Journal of Public Health Studies, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.46827/ejphs.v8i1.206

Apró, A., Fejes, N., Bandi, S. A., & Járai, R. (2024). Investigating the effect of grit trait on performance and success in Hungarian athlete’s sample. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1283115

Chanie, W., Melesse, S., & Demesie, A. (2023). Linking work characteristics to proactive behavior: Mediating role of motivational state. Heliyon, 9(7), e17522–e17522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17522

Oradini, N. P. B., Rubio, A., Araya-Castillo, L., Boada-Cuerva, M., & Vallejo-Velez, M. (2022). Passion and perseverance: How the components of grit affect the probability of starting a business. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.906701

Rayá, M., Ogunyemi, A., Carstensen, V. R., Bröder, J., Illanes‐Manrique, M., & Rankin, K. P. (2023). The reciprocal relationship between openness and creativity: From neurobiology to multicultural environments. Frontiers in Neurology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1235348

Tang, L., & Zhu, X. (2024). Academic self-efficacy, grit, and teacher support as predictors of psychological well-being of Chinese EFL students. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1332909

Yudiarti, A., & Putranta, M. P. (2022). The influence of grit towards work engagement and the moderating role of perceived organizational support. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.jam.2022.020.04.17