Search »International Edition+Why millennials struggle for successBy Angela DuckworthUpdated 1741 GMT (0141 HKT) May 3, 20164 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – Steve Jobs with a new LISA computer during a press preview in 1983. Baby boomers like to claim this visionary for their own.Hide Caption3 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – On November 30, 1965, about 20,000 marchers protested in Washington against American involvement in the Vietnam War. Those who were born in 1945 were on the tail end of the “greatest generation,” and some participated in anti-war rallies in their youth.Hide Caption4 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – Many Millennials love “The Daily Show,” previously hosted by Jon Stewart.Hide Caption1 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – For generation X, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was a cultural icon.Hide Caption2 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – Steve Jobs with a new LISA computer during a press preview in 1983. Baby boomers like to claim this visionary for their own.Hide Caption3 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – On November 30, 1965, about 20,000 marchers protested in Washington against American involvement in the Vietnam War. Those who were born in 1945 were on the tail end of the “greatest generation,” and some participated in anti-war rallies in their youth.Hide Caption4 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – Many Millennials love “The Daily Show,” previously hosted by Jon Stewart.Hide Caption1 of 44 photos: From millennials to the greatest generationFrom millennials to the greatest generation – For generation X, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was a cultural icon.Hide Caption2 of 4Story highlightsAngela Duckworth: Grit, that special combination of passion and perseverance, is the key to successBaby boomers are grittier than millennials, she says, but not for the reasons we thinkAngela Duckworth, PhD, is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the co-founder of the Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development in children. She is the author of a new book, GRIT: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Scribner). The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.(CNN)”What’s wrong with millennials?” This is a question many older Americans are asking. Why do they keep changing their minds about what they want to do with their lives? Why does even a hint of critical feedback send them into a tailspin of self-doubt?In a word, why don’t they have more grit?This last question is particularly important to me because I am a psychologist who studies grit. I define grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. It’s what keeps us going when everything else makes it seem easier to give up. In my research, I find that how you score on my Grit Scale—a short survey of your current level of passion and perseverance—predicts achievement.Grittier students are more likely to earn their diplomas, grittier teachers are more effective in the classroom, grittier soldiers are more likely to complete their training, and grittier salespeople are more likely to keep their jobs. The more challenging the domain, the more grit seems to matter.Millennials’ much-needed optimismI now have Grit Scale scores from thousands of American adults. My data provide a snapshot of grit across adulthood. And I’ve discovered a strikingly consistent pattern: grit and age go hand in hand. Sixty-somethings tend to be grittier, on average, than fifty-somethings, who are in turn grittier than forty-somethings, and so on.So, why are millennials at the bottom of the heap in grit? There are two possible explanations. That’s because the sixty-somethings I’ve surveyed differ from the twenty-somethings in two ways. One difference is that they grew up in the “Mad Men” era rather than the new millennium. But it’s also true that they have more than twice as much life experience.Do millennials lack grit because our culture devalues a work ethic?Let’s consider the first possibility and assume that older adults are grittier than their younger counterparts because in their formative years, they were shaped by different cultural forces. Back in the day, the story goes, you were expected to grow up to do one thing for a living and then retire. You were exhorted to work hard, and you were told that nothing in life comes easy. These cultural norms validated a solid work ethic and a single lifelong career.If you’re a baby boomer, chances are you agree with this explanatio
Source: Opinion: Why millennials struggle for success – CNN.com
