On grit, flow and 'vasbyt'

Gifted neuropsychologist Jonah Lehrer recently wrote on the psychology of grit in his blog, The Frontal Cortex, and in the Boston Globe. He described grit as:

"(grit is) ... about setting a specific long-term goal and doing whatever it takes until the goal has been reached. It’s always much easier to give up, but people with grit can keep going."

The primary researcher in the psychology of grit is Angela Duckworth. A grit questionnaire is available online. The concept seems to be drawing a lot of attention. The whole spring 2009 edition of In Character for instance, is devoted to the concept of grit. It is filled with entertaining anecdotes (in the best sense of the word) with examples of grit from Einstein to Seabiscuit.

I have seen many examples of what is described at grit in a career in special education. We would have described it as perseverance or "vasbyt" (An Afrikaans term which originated in the Border War, according to the Oxford Dictionary of South African English 'vasbyt': [fas beit] verb. usually imperative, interjection, equivalent of 'hang on', 'grin and bear it', 'keep going' etc. meaning endure). While I consider intelligence a very important attribute, I have often observed children with cerebral palsy achieve through pure grit, despite lacking what is conventionally described as intelligence. Certainly a concept worth looking into.

There are many other similar concepts and one would need to do some clarification and defining. The fields of Positive Psychology and Social Learning Theory may be especially important for this.

A commenter on Lehrer's blog linked grit with the concept of flow, which according to Wikipedia is:

"... the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity."

Other related concepts include resilience, locus of control and self-efficacy.

A few provocative (I hope) questions in closing:

Would Bernie Madoff, who systematically defrauded clients for the best part of two decades, be considered to have exhibited grit?

Lance Armstrong would without doubt be a prime example of grit in action. Should, however, the drug allegations that dogged his career prove true, will it still be considered grit?

What about Carlos Hathcock, who single-mindedly pursued a career as a top target rifle shooter and later as the top American marine sniper (93 confirmed kills)in Vietnam? He later battled burn injuries and multiple sclerosis, but continued to train military and police snipers.