Short Sport Grit Scale: Psychometric Properties of a Turkish Version of the Short Grit Scale for Athletes

Öz

Given that athletes frequently encounter setbacks, injuries, and psychological pressures, the ability to sustain effort and interest over the long term is considered critical for success. However, despite the growing importance of grit in sports, research in Turkey has been limited by the absence of culturally adapted instruments. Developing a valid and reliable Turkish measure is therefore essential for advancing sport psychology research and providing practitioners with tools to better understand athlete resilience. This study aimed to adapt the Short Grit Scale into Turkish for use with athletes and to examine its psychometric properties. The concept of grit, defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, has become increasingly relevant in sports psychology, yet there has been a lack of valid and reliable instruments tailored for Turkish athletes. A total of 222 athletes (122 males, 100 females) representing diverse sports disciplines voluntarily participated in the study. The scale adaptation process included linguistic equivalence, item revision based on expert opinions, and evaluation through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The two-factor structure (Consistency of Interest and Perseverance of Effort) showed acceptable model fit indices (CFA: χ²/df = 1.69, CFI = 0.967, RMSEA = 0.056). Reliability analysis indicated satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α: .71 and .76). Measurement invariance across gender was confirmed at configural, metric, and scalar levels. Test-retest reliability over a 20-day interval was r = .89 (p < .001), supporting the scale’s temporal stability. The Turkish version of the Short Sport Grit Scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing grit among athletes.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sport
• Grit
• Athletes
• Measurement
• Invariance

Kaynakça

1. Baczyńska, A. K., Rowiński, T., & Cybis, N. (2016). Proposed core competencies and empirical validation procedure in competency modeling: Confirmation and classification. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 273. [CrossRef]
2. Behnke, M., Tomczak, M., Kaczmarek, Ł. D., Komar, M., & Gracz, J. (2017). The Sport mental training questionnaire: Development and validation. Current Psychology, 38(2), 504–516. [CrossRef]
3. Bentley, D. J., Cox, G. R., Green, D., & Laursen, P. B. (2008). Maximising performance in triathlon: Applied physiological and nutritional aspects of elite and non-elite competitions. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 11(4), 407–416. [CrossRef]
4. Boccia, G., Brustio, P. R., Moisè, P., Franceschi, A., La Torre, A., Schena, F., ... & Cardinale, M. (2019). Elite national athletes reach their peak performance later than non-elite in sprints and throwing events. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 22(3), 342–347. [CrossRef]
5. Bracko, M.R. (2001). On-ice performance characteristics of elite and non-elite women's ice hockey players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 15(1), 42–47.
6. Byrne, B. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS, Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.
7. Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(3), 464–504. [CrossRef]
8. Cheung, G., & Rensvold, R. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255. [CrossRef]

9. Christopoulou, M., Lakioti, A., Pezirkianidis, C., Karakasidou, E., & Stalikas, A. (2018). The role of grit in education: A systematic review. Psychology, 9(15), 2951–2971. [CrossRef]
10. Cormier, D. L., Dunn, J. G., & Dunn, J. C. (2019). Examining the domain specificity of grit. Personality and Individual Differences, 139, 349–354. [CrossRef]
11. Cox, R. H. (2002). Sport psychology: Concepts and applications. (7th ed., p. 297). McGraw-Hill.
12. Cumming, S. P., Smith, R. E., Smoll, F. L., Standage, M., & Grossbard, J. R. (2007). Development and validation of the Achievement Goal Scale for Youth Sports. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9(5), 686–703. [CrossRef]
13. Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner.
14. Duckworth, A. L., & Quinn, P. D. (2009). Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 166–174. [CrossRef]
15. Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087–1101. [CrossRef]
16. Duckworth, A.L., Kirby, T.A., Tsukayama, E., Berstein, H., & Ericsson, K.A. (2011). Deliberate practice spells success: Why grittier competitors triumph at the national spelling bee. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(2), 174–181. [CrossRef]
17. Elias, S., Ismail, N., & Basri, B. S. (2022). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of e-procurement adoption model in Malaysian construction industry. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(5), 1772–1784. [CrossRef]
18. Eskreis-Winkler, L., Shulman, E.P., Beal, S. A., & Duckworth, A.L. (2014). The grit effect: Predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article 36. [CrossRef]
19. Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. [CrossRef]
20. Franchini, E., Takito, M. Y., Kiss, M. A. P. D. M., & Strerkowicz, S. (2005). Physical fitness and anthropometrical differences between elite and non-elite judo players. Biology of Sport, 22(4), 315-328. [CrossRef]
21. Fruchart, E., & Rulence-Pâques, P. (2025). Development and validation of the Sports Grit Scale. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 23(4), 658-671. [CrossRef]
22. Fulkerson, J. A., Keel, P. K., Leon, G. R., & Dorr, T. (1999). Eating‐disordered behaviors and personality characteristics of high school athletes and nonathletes. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26(1), 73–79. [CrossRef]
23. Gao, F., Wei, Q., Dong, X., Gao, J., Lu, S., & Liu, Y. (2024). Developing and validating a domain specific grit scale for college athletic students. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 11897. [CrossRef]
24. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis 6th Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall.
25. Holanda, F. L. de, Marra, C. C., & Cunha, I. C. K. O. (2019). Evidence of validity of the competence scale of actions of nurses in emergencies. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 27, Article e3128. [CrossRef]
26. Karagöz, Y. (2018). SPSS 23 ve AMOS 23 Uygulamalı İstatistiksel Analizler [SPSS 23 and AMOS 23 Applied Statistical Analysis]. Nobel Akademi Publishing
27. Liu, Y. (2022). Investigating the role of English as a foreign language learners’ academic motivation and language mindset in their grit: A Theoretical review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 872014. [CrossRef]
28. Lorenz, D. S., Reiman, M. P., Lehecka, B. J., & Naylor, A. (2013). What performance characteristics determine elite versus nonelite athletes in the same sport? Sports Health, 5(6), 542–547. [CrossRef]
29. Lund, T. J., Liang, B., Mousseau, A. D., Matyjaszczyk, V., & Fleurizard, T. (2019). The will and the way? Associations between purpose and grit among students in three US universities. Journal of College Student Development, 60(3), 361-365. [CrossRef]
30. McCrae, R. R., Kurtz, J. E., Yamagata, S., & Terracciano, A. (2010). Internal consistency, retest reliability, and their implications for personality scale validity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(1), 28-50. [CrossRef]
31. Mendizabal, B. (2024). The relationship between athletes’ grit, mental toughness, and sport resilience. Physical Education of Students, 28(4), 188–194. [CrossRef]
32. Meng, Y., Sun, Y., Yang, L., & Mydin, Y. O. (2025). Mechanisms from growth mindset to psychological well-being of chinese primary school students: The serial mediating role of grit and academic self-efficacy. Behavioral Sciences, 15(5), Article 621. [CrossRef]
33. Perkins-Gough, D. (2013). The significance of grit: A conversation with Angela Lee Duckworth. Educational Leadership, 71(1), 14–20.
34. Prince, M. (2008). Measurement validity in cross-cultural comparative research. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 17(3), 211–220. [CrossRef]
35. Roberts, B., Jackson, J., Duckworth, A., & Von Culin, K. (2011). Personality measurement and assessment in large panel surveys. Forum for Health Economics & Policy, 14(2), Article 6. [CrossRef]
36. Rust, J., & Golombok, S. (1986). The GRISS: A psychometric instrument for the assessment of sexual dysfunction. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15(2), 157–165. [CrossRef]
37. Sarıçam, H., Celik, I., & Oguz, A. (2016). Turkish adaptation of the Short Grit Scale (GRIT-S): Validity and reliability study. International Journal of Turkish Literature Culture Education, 5(2), 927–935. [CrossRef]
38. Sass, D. (2011). Testing measurement invariance and comparing latent factor means within a confirmatory factor analysis framework. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 29(4), 347–363. [CrossRef]
39. Schimschal, S. E., Visentin, D., Kornhaber, R., & Cleary, M. (2020). Grit: A concept analysis. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 42(5), 495–505. [CrossRef]
40. Scielzo, S., AbdelFattah, K. R., & Ryder, H. F. (2023). Is it all about the form? Norm- vs criterion-referenced ratings and faculty inter-rater reliability. Ochsner Journal, 23(3), 206–221. [CrossRef]
41. Seggar, J. F., Pedersen, D. M., Hawkes, N. R., & McGown, C. (1997). A measure of stress for athletic performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84(1), 227–236. [CrossRef]
42. Sotoodeh, M. S., Talebi, R., Hemayattalab, R., & Arabameri, E. (2012). Comparison of selected mental skills between elite and non-elite male and female Taekwondo athletes. World Journal of Sport Sciences, 6(1), 32–38. [CrossRef]
43. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Pearson.
44. Terry, D., Peck, B., Baker, E., & Schmitz, D. (2024). Self-efficacy, grit, and rural career aspirations among early career nurses: A repeated cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing, 23(1), Article 50. [CrossRef]
45. Vagnetti, R., Camp, N., Story, M., Belaid, K. A., Mitra, S., Zecca, M., Nuovo, A. D., & Magistro, D. (2024). Instruments for measuring psychological dimensions in human-robot interaction: Systematic review of psychometric properties. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, Article e55597. [CrossRef]
46. Zakrajsek, R. A., Raabe, J., & Blanton, J. E. (2019). Psychological characteristics of elite athletes. In M. H. Anshel, T. A. Petrie, & J. A. Steinfeldt (Eds.), APA handbook of sport and exercise psychology: Sport psychology (pp. 129–148). American Psychological Association. [CrossRef]
47. Zenner, H. P., De Maddalena, H., & Zalaman, I. M. (2005). Validity and reliability study of three tinnitus self-assessment scales: Loudness, annoyance and change. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 125(11), 1184–1188. [CrossRef]
48. Zhao, W., Shi, X., Jin, M., Li, Y., Chen, L., Ji, Y., Cao, J., Oubibi, M., Li, X., & Tian, Y. (2024). The impact of a growth mindset on high school students’ learning subjective well-being: The serial mediation role of achievement motivation and grit. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1399343. [CrossRef]