Examining predictive effects of general grit and L2 grit on motivated behavior: The mediating effect of self-perceived proficiency

Abstract

Following a recent surge of interest in the role of personality traits in second language learning, this study focuses on L2 grit as an important individual difference factor that is gaining growing recognition among second language acquisition researchers. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, we examined the predictive effects of general grit and L2 grit on motivated behavior among 549 advanced Polish university students majoring in English and the extent to which these effects were mediated by self-perceived proficiency. Data were collected by means of the Grit Scale (Duckworth et al., 2007), the L2 Grit Scale (Teimouri et al., 2022), the motivated behavior scale (Taguchi et al., 2009), and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that general grit and L2 grit significantly co-predicted motivated behavior, with the effect of L2 grit being more pronounced. However, differences were found for students representing different proficiency levels. The results were corroborated by qualitative analysis of interview data.