Personality, grit, and performance in rock-climbing: down to the nitty-gritty

Over the past decades, the study of personality gained momentum in the field of sport psychology, a prime example being the increased number of publications relating personality to performance in extreme sports. The aim of the present investigation was twofold: to relate Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits with various aspects of climbing performance and to estimate whether grit, as a distinct personality trait, predicts climbing performance over and beyond FFM dimensions. Our sample included adult bouldering and sport climbing practitioners (N = 272 sport climbers, 155 boulderers) with ages between 16 and 69 (M = 32.1, SD = 10.0). We measured personality (Big Five Inventory FFM-2 Short Form, and a 12-item Grit Scale) and multiple indicators of outdoor sport climbing and bouldering performance. Results indicated that climbing performance was predicted by openness and agreeableness. Grit also significantly predicted climbing performance over the FFM traits. Contrary to the commonly held view depicting grit as indistinct from conscientiousness, our findings suggest that this trait has a unique contribution to explaining performance in a relatively novel, high-risk sport.