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Tuesday, June 14. 2022

True Grit

Psychologists have a term for it: Mental Toughness ("MT")



...  researchers agree, MT is particularly worth promoting among the young, a stance that seems at least somewhat at odds with today’s self-care narrative. Says Chawla, “I would define mental toughness as grit. Tenacity. And a fairly big chunk of that is having some discipline over your own impulses—doing things even when your mind is objecting. This idea is now reviled in mainstream culture in favor of approaches such as, ‘be gentle with yourself.’ [But] if you’re always gentle with yourself you will stagnate and grow weak and fragile.” If our goal is to uphold and not erode mental toughness, it is surely unhelpful to applaud iconic role models for extolling fragility.






Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 14:23 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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a stance that seems at least somewhat at odds with today’s self-care narrative

At odds? Are you referring to a citizenry who won't take their vitamins unless they're spiked into a gummy candy?
#1 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2022-06-14 15:32 (Reply)
Some (most) of this is learned but some is inherent. The bad news is if you are born with mental toughness it is unlikely you will reach old age. Mental toughness is good but common sense is better.
#2 OneGuy on 2022-06-14 15:41 (Reply)
The Finnish call it "sisu."
#3 Michael Kesti on 2022-06-14 16:06 (Reply)
Got the shirt. Grew up in the UP so saw a lot of "sisu"
#3.1 rocdoctom on 2022-06-14 21:51 (Reply)
A doctoral dissertation in the 1950s tried to predict college freshman academic performance. After a battery of tests correlated using state-of-the-art computers, the conclusion was that there were three factors that best predicted college freshman performance: SAT/ACT scores, high school grade average, and "GRIT." (Though the dissertation's author called it "stick-to-it-iveness.")
#4 Gringo on 2022-06-14 19:35 (Reply)
I've had a bunch of young engineering trainees that I've put through their paces in operational environments requiring active problem-solving, and I've come to the conclusion that stick-to-it-iveness is very important, but a sense of curiosity and a willingness to poke at things until something moves is equally important. Curiosity, tenacity, and action: All 3 are required.
#5 Aggie on 2022-06-14 19:43 (Reply)
One of the better articles you have posted job/bd.
#6 Mark on 2022-06-14 20:35 (Reply)
I think it is going to turn out to be genetic, like everything else. But until that time, it would be wise to teach it to the young, just in case.
#7 Assistant Village Idiot on 2022-06-14 22:32 (Reply)
Ahem...some of us take those gummies because of swallowing difficulties with gigantic vitamin pills. While you may be able to get large items down your throat, but some of us haven't had as much practice...
#8 Rufus on 2022-06-15 17:55 (Reply)

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