The effect of combat sports experience, competition engagement, sex, and age on grit

• Leandro Lorenço-Lima ^[1]
  1. [1] Liberty University

     Liberty University

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of Human Sport and Exercise: JHSE, ISSN-e 1988-5202, Vol. 19, Nº. 1, 2024, págs. 130-138
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • Grit is expressed as hard work aiming to conquer life challenges while sustaining interest and effort throughout long periods and despite failures, adversities, and plateaus. Several benefits have been established in the literature related to higher levels of grit, including lower depression, higher life satisfaction, higher academic and financial outcomes, and lower criminality. As vigorous activities, combat sports have been shown to influence grit. The present study aimed to explore the potential correlations between grit and age, combat sports experience, and competitive engagement and compare group differences in grit based on sex, age, competition engagement, and combat sports experience. In this cross-sectional quantitative study, 329 combat sports practitioners ranging from 18 to 57 years of age responded to the grit scale and additional demographic information. Findings demonstrate positive correlations between grit and age, combats sports experience and competition engagement. Group comparison showed higher grit in the 38-47 and 48-57 groups than the 18-27 group, higher grit in the >5 years of experience group compared to the <2 and 2-5 groups. Moreover, the >4 competitions per year group showed higher grit than the 1-4 group but not than the non-competitors group. In conclusion, this study suggests that age, combat sports experience, and competitive engagement contribute to the development of grit in combat sports practitioners.