False Assumption Registry

Grit is More Important than IQ

False Assumption: Grit is more important than IQ when you're trying to become successful.

Summaries Written by FARAgent (AI) on February 16, 2026 · Pending Verification

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, “grit” was sold as the missing ingredient in success: passion and perseverance for long-term goals, more important than raw talent, and in some settings “as good as or better than IQ.” That idea had an obvious appeal. Schools and employers had long seen people of only ordinary measured ability outperform brighter but less steady peers, and Duckworth’s early studies, including work on West Point cadets and spelling bees, seemed to put numbers on a familiar truth. It also fit the policy mood. Intelligence looked fixed, grit looked teachable, and “character” sounded more democratic than aptitude.

Then the claim grew larger than the evidence. As grit moved from journals to TED talks, bestsellers, and school reform, critics argued that the construct was not especially new and might be mostly conscientiousness under a fresh label. Meta-analyses in 2016 found that grit predicted performance, but modestly, and that the “perseverance” half did most of the work while “consistency of interests” often contributed little. Later work in broader, more representative samples reported that grit had negligible effects on educational and economic success compared with intelligence, and that the strongest early findings came from selective settings where range restriction made IQ look weaker than it was.

The debate now is not whether persistence matters, it plainly does, but whether “grit” is a unique, superior predictor that deserved the hype. A substantial body of experts now rejects the stronger version of that claim, holding that IQ and conscientiousness remain more robust predictors across many outcomes. Duckworth and allies still argue that noncognitive traits matter and that grit captures something useful, especially for sticking with hard goals over time. What has faded is the old slogan that grit outranks intelligence. The current dispute is over how much it adds, whether it is distinct, and whether schools were wise to build so much around it.

Status: A significant portion of experts think this assumption was false
People Involved
  • Angela Duckworth was the University of Pennsylvania psychologist who almost single-handedly turned grit into a household word. In 2007 she published a paper on West Point cadets that appeared to show grit predicting who would finish training better than any other measure, then followed it with a 2013 TED talk seen by more than seventeen million people in which she declared that grit was as good or better a predictor of success than cognitive ability. She wrote a bestselling book, advised school districts, and became the public face of the idea that perseverance and passion for long-term goals mattered more than talent. Even after meta-analyses questioned her claims she continued to defend the concept's practical value while acknowledging some measurement problems. [2][3][5][6]
  • Marcus Credé was the Iowa State University psychologist who became the most persistent internal critic. In 2017 he published a meta-analysis of eighty-eight studies involving more than sixty-six thousand people that found grit correlated only modestly with grades and overlapped so heavily with conscientiousness that it added almost nothing new. He warned that the hype had far outrun the evidence and that perseverance alone drove whatever small predictive power existed. His work was cited repeatedly by later skeptics yet failed to slow the spread of grit curricula in schools. [3][4][5][6]
  • James Heckman was the Nobel Prize-winning University of Chicago economist who lent academic prestige to the broader claim that personality traits outpredict IQ. In the 2016 PNAS paper he co-authored with Borghans and others he argued that measures of non-cognitive skills explained more variance in life outcomes than cognitive tests, a position he had advanced in earlier work as well. The paper was treated as authoritative in policy circles until re-analyses using the same datasets reached the opposite conclusion. Heckman continued to emphasize skills formed outside formal schooling. [1][13][14]
▶ Supporting Quotes (33)
“Grit research can be traced back to a 2005 article in Psychological Science (Duckworth and Seligman: “Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents”) and a 2007 article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, and Kelly; “Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals”).”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“in her popular TED talk, with more than 17 million views, Duckworth (2013) argued that grit is “as good or even a better predictor of success than cognitive ability.””— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“The concept of “grit” has risen to prominence recently on a wave of publicity for Angela Duckworth’s book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.”— True grit may be a false concept
“There’s a study due to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and an early version has been made available by lead author Marcus Credé.”— True grit may be a false concept
“"One characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't IQ. It was grit."”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“"My overall assessment is that grit is far less important than has commonly been assumed and claimed," says the lead author, Marcus Crede, an assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State University. "And it doesn't tell us anything that we don't already know."”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“The cover blurb on Duckworth's book by Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, states, "Psychologists have spent decades searching for the secret of success, but Duckworth is the one who found it."”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“Grit, conceptualized and operationalized by Duckworth and her colleagues as “trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087), is one such construct.”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“A main implication of our results is that calls to intervene to improve students’ overall grit as a way to enhance their achievement are at best premature and at worst a mistake given our findings and those of others.”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Credé (2018) to wonder recently “what we should do about grit” (p. 1), and to state “at present there is no empirical support for the idea that grit is the combination of perseverance and passion or for the claim that grit adds to our understanding of success and performance” (p. 5).”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Grit -- perseverance and passion for long-term goals, as defined by Duckworth (2007)-- has emerged in recent years as a significant predictor of life success and school achievement (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“some researchers have suggested that grit might be more malleable than socioeconomic status, intelligence, and other predictors of academic achievement (Duckworth & Gross, 2014). It is often assumed that its origins lie with family values, and thus would be more amenable to training (Duckworth & Gross, 2014).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“Coined by psychologist Angela Duckworth a decade ago, "grit" is defined as perseverance and commitment to long-term goals. Since Duckworth's hugely popular TED Talk, grit has graced the pages of newspapers and magazines across the nation.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“A 2016 paper published in PNAS (a prestigious journal) and co-authored by James Heckman (a Nobel-prize winning economist) concluded that “personality is generally more predictive than IQ on a variety of important life outcomes”.”— IQ isn't everything but it's a lot
“Borghans et al. (2016) argued that grades and achievement tests are generally better predictors of life outcomes than “pure” measures of intelligence because they capture aspects of personality that are predictive on their own. The abstract of their paper states that “personality is generally more predictive than IQ on a variety of important life outcomes” (p. 13354).”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“Zisman and Ganzach (2022) re-analyzed two of the same datasets together with four additional ones and came to the opposite conclusion—intelligence is a better predictor of educational (grade point average) and occupational (income) success.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“In their comments, Golsteyn et al. (2022) pointed out that the discordant findings across the datasets are driven by differences in the measures used, the choice of a particular version of the measure, the populations considered, the circumstances under which tests were taken, and the availability of life outcomes in each dataset.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“In a reply, Ganzach and Zisman (2022) did not question these points, but the title of their paper emphasizes that “the claim that personality is more important than intelligence in predicting important life outcomes has been greatly exaggerated”.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“This commentary is based on a closer look at the data presented by these two groups of authors.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“In their comments, Golsteyn et al. (2022) pointed out that the discordant findings across the datasets are driven by differences in the measures used, the choice of a particular version of the measure, the populations considered, the circumstances under which tests were taken, and the availability of life outcomes in each dataset.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“It is rather interesting that one of the co-author in Borghans et al. (2016) is none other than James Heckman. This is not his first bogus attempt to discredit the importance of IQ, as there were countless ones prior.”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“Borghans et al. (2016) analyze 4 datasets with diverse measures of IQ and, shockingly, concluded that the impact of IQ on social outcomes is weak compared to personality measures”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“The third fallacy, committed by Golsteyn et al. (2022), is their belief that a test that correlates with personality is not a pure measure of intelligence”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“Professor Heckman told Bloomberg View that IQ is not a major determinant in a child’s future success. Only about 1 or 2 percent of income differences can be tied to IQ, the article notes.”— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“Humphries told Bloomberg View that he hopes their work can “help clarify the complicated, often misunderstood notion of ability.””— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“Research on IQ scores by HCEO IP network leader Angela Duckworth had similar findings. In a 2011 study, Professor Duckworth found that motivated kids work harder to answer difficult questions, which is then reflected in IQ scores.”— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“A recent paper by HCEO IP network member Terrie Moffitt and co-authors, which examines how childhood risk affects adult outcomes, was also highlighted. Moffitt’s research found that childhood risk factors do predict adult outcomes, such as receiving welfare and committing a crime, with “statistical significance.””— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“"Die Zahlen sind nicht überraschend", sagte er der Mitteldeutschen Zeitung. In einigen Deliktbereichen seien sie besorgniserregend, vor allem bei Gewalt- und Tötungsdelikten von Flüchtlingen. Die Zahlen rechtfertigten die erfolgte Verschärfung des Ausweisungsrechts.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Die innenpolitische Sprecherin der grünen Bundestagsfraktion, Irene Mihalic, sagte dagegen, der BKA-Bericht zeige, dass Zuwanderer nicht mehr oder weniger kriminell sind als Menschen, die schon lange hier wohnen. Es sei daher "unsäglich", dass die Bundesregierung die Ereignisse der Kölner Silvesternacht für eine schärfere Asylgesetzgebung instrumentalisiert habe.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
““Scientists ourselves cannot agree on how to define the two sexes,” Rachel Levin, a Pomona College neuroscientist who studies the development of sex, told me over the phone. “To say that sex is simple and easily defined — and defined at conception — is factually incorrect.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“There was a flurry of commentary this week suggesting that, by the Trump administration’s own definition, this could very well be the case. On Monday, you see, Trump kicked off his second term by signing a barrage of executive orders, including one stating that sex starts at the moment of conception — at which point, Trumpian science decrees, you are female or male and that’s it.”— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“The document represents “a dramatic failure to understand biology,” said Rachel Levin, a Pomona College neuroscientist who studies the development of sex.”— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“as she put it in an email she later posted to Twitter, “There are two reproductive categories, and Trump is correct that they are based on the kinds of gametes individuals are designed to produce.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
Organizations Involved

The U.S. Department of Education embraced grit with remarkable speed. In 2013 it released a report calling grit a promising lever for student success and recommended that schools teach it, a stance that influenced state policies and charter networks. The department's Institute of Education Sciences went further, explicitly calling for the development of interventions to increase students' grit. These endorsements helped move grit from academic journals into thousands of classrooms before the first large-scale replications appeared. [3][7][8][9]

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter network built grit directly into its model. Schools administered grit questionnaires, hung posters about perseverance, and incorporated grit lessons into the curriculum on the theory that character traits could be deliberately cultivated. The approach was copied by other charter operators and became a visible symbol of the belief that non-cognitive skills could close achievement gaps where cognitive interventions had fallen short. Later reviews questioned whether the programs produced measurable gains beyond what conscientiousness already predicted. [6]

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the 2016 Borghans et al. paper that gave the personality-over-IQ view an imprimatur of elite science. The journal's prestige helped the claim spread through economics and education policy circles even though subsequent re-analyses of the same datasets found intelligence to be the stronger predictor. PNAS did not issue a correction or expression of concern when measurement critiques accumulated. [1][11]

▶ Supporting Quotes (18)
“The data were extracted from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY97), a large-scale, nationally representative longitudinal project sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“It’s being highlighted as a promising avenue for intervention by the US Department of Education, and it has been planned as a form of assessment in some schools beginning in 2017.”— True grit may be a false concept
“Angela Duckworth, professor at the University of Pennsylvania.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“Marcus Credé, assistant professor at Iowa State University.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“agencies like the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), where the director called for developing interventions to bolster students’ grit (Shechtman, DeBarger, Dornsife, Rosier, & Yarnall, 2013).”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Despite the lack of empirical evidence training grit has been set as a priority by the US Department of Education (http://edf.stanford.edu/readings/download-promoting-grit-tenacity-and-perseverance-report).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“and the UK Department for Education (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/england-to-become-a-global-leader-of-teaching-character).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“The U.S. Department of Education even recommended we begin teaching grit in schools.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“A 2016 paper published in PNAS (a prestigious journal)”— IQ isn't everything but it's a lot
“SI Appendix, Appendix S1 lists 50 papers that use AFQT scores as proxies for intelligence.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“their work has not been subjected to critical examination, just various uninteresting comments (Ganzach & Zisman, 2022; Golsteyn et al., 2022; Stankov, 2023) and replication failures (Zisman & Ganzach, 2022).”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“The relationship between intelligence and success is the subject of a recent working paper by HCEO Co-director James Heckman, IP network member Bart Golsteyn, MIP network member John Eric Humphries, and Lex Borghans.”— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“James J Gross 2 Stanford University”— Self-Control and Grit: Related but Separable Determinants of Success
“Die ersten flächendeckenden Zahlen zur Kriminalität von Zuwanderern zeigen nach Darstellung des Bundesinnenministeriums, dass die Gruppe nicht mehr Straftaten begeht als andere.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Der jüngste Bericht des Bundeskriminalamts (BKA) zu dem Thema bestätige eine entsprechende Kernaussage einer früheren Erhebung vom Februar, sagte eine Ministeriumssprecherin. "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche."”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“The headline of Arwa Mahdawi’s latest column in The Guardian reads, “After his executive order on sex, is Trump legally the first female president?””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“STAT News is supposedly a top-tier health news site. And STAT ran a similarly oriented article by Megan Molteni headlined “Trump executive order declaring only ‘two sexes’ gets the biology wrong, scientists say.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“The likes of Nature, possibly one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, has noted that “the research and medical community now sees sex as more complex than male and female.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
The Foundation

The belief that grit is more important than IQ rested on a plausible observation: many smart people fail while less gifted people with unusual drive succeed. Early studies seemed to support this. Duckworth's 2007 West Point research found that cadets one standard deviation higher in grit were dramatically more likely to complete the first summer of training, and her spelling-bee work suggested grit predicted final placement better than IQ once deliberate practice was considered. These findings arrived at a moment when cognitive testing faced political criticism and when policymakers were eager for traits that seemed teachable rather than fixed. A thoughtful person reviewing the initial data could reasonably conclude that perseverance and consistency of interest offered a powerful, malleable path to success that cognitive ability alone could not explain. [2][5][6]

Yet the same studies that launched the idea contained seeds of its later troubles. The West Point sample was range-restricted on intelligence because only high-aptitude candidates are admitted, artificially lowering the observed importance of IQ. Grit's two factors, perseverance of effort and consistency of interests, overlapped so strongly with conscientiousness that meta-analyses found correlations between 0.80 and 0.98; perseverance alone carried most of the predictive load while consistency added little. A 2016 twin study of more than four thousand British sixteen-year-olds showed grit was about 37 percent heritable with no shared-environment effect, undermining the hope that it could be easily trained through school programs. [2][7][8]

Subsequent work using representative samples told a different story. Zisman and Ganzach's 2020 analysis of the NLSY97 found that intelligence was between 48 and 90 times more predictive of educational attainment than grit and 13 times more predictive of occupational success. Credé's 2017 meta-analysis of sixty-six thousand participants concluded that grit added almost no incremental validity once conscientiousness was accounted for and that its correlation with GPA was only 0.17. These findings did not prove grit irrelevant but showed the original claim of superiority had been overstated. [2][3][4]

▶ Supporting Quotes (38)
“Scepticism about the practical importance of IQ is by no means confined to the popular media.”— IQ isn't everything but it's a lot
“a major concern about the studies which argued that grit has a strong impact on success is that they were based on selected samples such as West Point cadets (Duckworth et al., 2007)... These samples were drawn from institutions which are characterized by a homogeneous socioeconomic population (and perhaps even by population that are homogenous in their intelligence)—a characteristic which is likely to impose a range restriction on important predictors of success.”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“Duckworth et al. (2007) distinguished grit from conscientiousness by stating, for example, that “Grit is distinct from dependability aspects of conscientiousness, including self-control, in its specification of consistent goals and interests” (p. 1089), promoting it as the ultimate noncognitive predictor of success”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“In her 2013 TED talk, Duckworth says that “One characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn’t social intelligence. It wasn’t good looks, physical health, and it wasn’t IQ. It was grit.” This flies in the face of a large body of evidence that finds a very strong role for intelligence in certain forms of success, explaining about half of people’s differences in “performance in academic and work settings,” the authors write.”— True grit may be a false concept
“They found a stunning correlation between grit and conscientiousness: 84 percent.”— True grit may be a false concept
“"Cadets who scored a standard deviation higher than average on the Grit–S were 99% more likely to complete summer training," the paper says.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“His analysis found an overall correlation of 0.18, looking at papers by Duckworth and others. This compares to a much higher correlation of 0.50 between, say, SAT scores and performance in college.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“In the various studies Crede looks at, conscientiousness scores and grit scores are very highly correlated — between 80 and 98 percent.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“They and other researchers have found that individuals with higher levels of grit exhibit greater tenacity in achieving certain goals than their less “gritty” counterparts; outcomes assessed include attainment in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, passing boot camp at West Point, and (in some instances) grades in college. They also demonstrated that grit added incremental predictive validity for these outcomes over and above IQ.”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“researchers do not yet agree on the factor structure of individuals’ responses to the most widely used grit scales, the Grit-O and Grit-S (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009).”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“A critical limitation of most research studying grit has been the use of highly selected populations such as undergraduate students, spelling competition finalists, cadets, and teachers; research on less restricted samples might yield higher correlations.”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“It is often assumed that its origins lie with family values, and thus would be more amenable to training (Duckworth & Gross, 2014), as compared to cognitive factors or socioeconomic status, which are considered to be very difficult to amend (Moffitt et al., 2011).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“Grit is made up of two separate components: 1) the perseverance to keep working toward a goal despite the obstacles encountered; and 2) the pursuit of a single goal or passion. ... many questions that measure conscientiousness align with items on Duckworth's "Grit Scale."”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“In the study, Duckworth posed questions from her Grit Scale to new cadets at the West Point military academy. The study concluded that cadets who registered above-average levels of grit are 99 percent more likely to finish the basic training than cadets with average levels of grit. But the new review points out that 95 percent of all cadets make it through basic training, while 98 percent with high grit scores make it through — only a three percent difference.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“concluded that “personality is generally more predictive than IQ on a variety of important life outcomes”.”— IQ isn't everything but it's a lot
“Achievement tests were designed to capture general knowledge acquired in school and life. They were thought to be more objective and fair than grades, which involve teacher assessments of individual students in particular classrooms. Tests of fluid intelligence were designed to capture “innate aptitudes” rather than acquired knowledge.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“Intelligence quotient (IQ), grades, and scores on achievement tests are widely used as measures of cognition, but the correlations among them are far from perfect.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“It was precisely because grades depend on personality that achievement tests were advocated as better measures of cognition. Achievement tests were thought to be independent of teacher assessments of noncognitive traits that were often deemed to be biased.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“Borghans et al.’s (2016) assumption that they are akin to achievement tests and therefore related to personality is not widely shared in the field.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“In their paper (see Table 3, columns 2 and 8), the average R2 from six studies is .053 (r = .230) for predicting educational attainment from the Big Five, and it is .040 (r = .200) for predicting pay”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“These distinctions were not acknowledged in any of the studies cited by the two groups of investigators, and yet they have important implications for the interpretation of the relationship between cognition and life outcomes.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“The use of Big Five measures of personality traits for predicting life outcomes appear to be poorly supported—other ways of assessing personality need to be explored.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“Borghans et al.’s (2016) assumption that they are akin to achievement tests and therefore related to personality is not widely shared in the field.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“The use of Big Five measures of personality traits for predicting life outcomes appear to be poorly supported—other ways of assessing personality need to be explored.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“It can be concluded that the measurement of intelligence is not ideal in either of the two studies.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“The first fallacy is that Borghans et al. considered fluid intelligence, especially the Raven, as a pure measure of IQ, rather than a latent factor of a broad battery of tests... IQ is measured as the principal component of only 8 Raven’s items. It is more appropriate however to employ factor analysis (FA) rather than principal component (PCA).”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“what they treated as achievement tests had content similar to IQ tests, and they were all better cognitive measures than the IQ tests used in their analysis... The irony is that the DAT not only is considered by psychologists as a cognitive test rather than achievement test”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“Cognitive items certainly are not measured without error, yet the residual variance of the items is treated as true variance in PCA but is treated as error variance in FA.”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
““Both grades and achievement tests are substantially better predictors of important life outcomes than IQ,” the authors write. Both measurements capture personality traits, including non-cognitive skills like perseverance, that have a greater predictive power than IQ alone.”— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“Prospective, longitudinal studies show that grit predicts the completion of challenging goals despite obstacles and set-backs. For instance, grittier high school juniors in the Chicago public schools are more likely to graduate on time one year later (Eskreis-Winkler, Duckworth, Shulman, & Beale, 2014). Grittier cadets are more likely than their less gritty peers to make it through the first arduous summer at West Point (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Grittier novice teachers are more likely to stay in teaching, and among the teachers who do stay, those who are grittier are more effective (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009; Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014).”— Self-Control and Grit: Related but Separable Determinants of Success
“the Self-control scale [8] is thought to measure the “ability to override or change one’s inner responses, as well as to interrupt undesired behavioral tendencies (such as impulses) and refrain from acting on them” (p. 274). Yet, it includes items such as “I am lazy”, “I am reliable”, and “I keep everything neat.””— The fable of state self-control
“there is good evidence that traits can be described as a density distribution of states [25], with people high on any given trait enacting trait-consistent behaviors more frequently [26].”— The fable of state self-control
“Die Ministeriumssprecherin sagte, es gebe in der aktuellen Statistik kaum sexuelle Übergriffe oder Mord- und Totschlagdelikte, die von Zuwanderern begangen worden seien.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Die aktuelle Aufstellung habe aber eine neue Qualität und Aussagekraft, weil erstmals Zahlen aus allen Bundesländern eingeflossen seien und nicht wie im Februar nur die von 13.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Most scientists now reject the idea that sex is strictly binary. The likes of Nature, possibly one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, has noted that “the research and medical community now sees sex as more complex than male and female.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“And, while it’s true that most people inherit either XX (typically female) or XY (typically male) chromosomes at conception, declaring that sex is determined so early is overly simplistic.”— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“the theory seems to be that intellectual or journalistic inquiry should be guided by utilitarian calculations. You shouldn’t spend your time, or at least not much of it, on a particular beat or concern if there are more “important” concerns elsewhere.”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
“If journalists followed the utilitarian calculations suggested by the derailers, we’d have no journalism on truly outrageous instances of injustice affecting individuals and small groups of people.”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
How It Spread

The idea spread first through a perfect storm of accessible science and policy hunger. Duckworth's 2013 TED talk, her 2016 book, and glowing coverage in outlets such as NPR turned grit into a self-help staple and an education buzzword within three years. Popular writers like Paul Tough amplified the message that character could matter as much as cognitive skill, while the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences gave it official blessing. Google Scholar counts showed publications on grit exploding from 76 in 2008 to 1,650 in 2018, outpacing both intelligence and conscientiousness research. [2][3][5][6]

Academic momentum reinforced the popular narrative. Large longitudinal datasets such as the NLSY, MIDUS, and Wisconsin Longitudinal Study were mined for evidence that non-cognitive measures predicted outcomes better than IQ scores. The 2016 PNAS paper by Borghans and Heckman lent the claim the weight of a top journal and was covered in Bloomberg View as showing IQ explained only one or two percent of income variance. Even after early meta-analyses questioned the distinctiveness of grit, education policymakers continued to cite the original studies in reports and grant proposals. [1][10][11][14]

Social and political channels carried the idea into unrelated domains. Some commentators invoked similar logic to argue that personality or willpower explained group differences better than cognitive ability, while others used the language of grit to frame debates about self-control and social policy. The rapid adoption created a feedback loop in which citations begat more citations and interventions begat more calls for interventions, even as the underlying evidence remained contested. [15][16][18]

▶ Supporting Quotes (25)
“We are likewise told that “grit is more important than IQ when you're trying to become successful”.”— IQ isn't everything but it's a lot
“Data obtained from Google Scholar show that there were 76 papers published that contained the word “grit” in 2008, the year following Duckworth et al.’s publication and 1,650 papers in 2018.”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“The interest in the grit concept, and the perception that it is the key to educational and economic success, penetrated the popular media as well. For example, in a popular educational website, Hanford (2012) wrote, “when it comes to high achievement, grit may be as essential as intelligence””— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“The idea has been taken to heart by various educational bodies.”— True grit may be a false concept
“in her 2013 TED talk, when she presents grit as a powerful, even unique factor”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“Grit has been on NPR several times recently, not to mention front and center on the national education agenda.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“Following these studies, grit began receiving much attention in the popular press (e.g., Tough, 2012), and agencies like the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES).”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Despite the lack of empirical evidence training grit has been set as a priority by the US Department of Education ... and the UK Department for Education.”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“Since Duckworth's hugely popular TED Talk, grit has graced the pages of newspapers and magazines across the nation. The U.S. Department of Education even recommended we begin teaching grit in schools.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“Scepticism about the practical importance of IQ is by no means confined to the popular media.”— IQ isn't everything but it's a lot
“Achievement tests, like the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), are often used as proxies for cognitive ability. SI Appendix, Appendix S1 lists 50 papers that use AFQT scores as proxies for intelligence.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“Grades are also used as proxies for intelligence.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“Their argument about the prediction was supported by findings from four large datasets.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“Their argument about the prediction was supported by findings from four large datasets.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“their work has not been subjected to critical examination, just various uninteresting comments (Ganzach & Zisman, 2022; Golsteyn et al., 2022; Stankov, 2023)”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“Professor Heckman told Bloomberg View that IQ is not a major determinant in a child’s future success. Only about 1 or 2 percent of income differences can be tied to IQ, the article notes.”— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“The disciplines of psychology, economics, and neuroscience presumably turned toward the scientific study of willpower because it appeared to predict a broad set of societally-important outcomes.”— Willpower is overrated
“To understand their similarities and differences, we employ a hierarchical goal framework that draws on contemporary goal theories.”— Self-Control and Grit: Related but Separable Determinants of Success
“Although it goes by many names—ability to delay gratification, trait self-control, conscientiousness, or grit—empirical study after empirical study suggests that it predicts the good life”— The fable of state self-control
“Es sei daher "unsäglich", dass die Bundesregierung die Ereignisse der Kölner Silvesternacht für eine schärfere Asylgesetzgebung instrumentalisiert habe.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Auf hohem Niveau bleiben nach BKA-Angaben auch die Straftaten gegen schon bewohnte oder im Bau befindliche Flüchtlingsunterkünfte.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“grit is only moderately correlated with performance and retention, and that grit is very strongly correlated with conscientiousness”— Much Ado About Grit: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Grit Literature
“Both articles represent dead-end attempts to defend what has become a sacred goal of progressive science discourse — claiming that biological sex is too complicated for us to divide the vast majority of humans into “male” and “female””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“Maybe the most common version is lobbed at individuals on the left who are concerned about illiberalism on the left, who are accused of ignoring the more pressing threat of right-wing illiberalism or fascism or whatever.”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
“When I see this coming from academics or journalists, which I do a lot, I find it quite frustrating and anti-intellectual.”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
Resulting Policies

School systems across the United States began measuring and teaching grit on the assumption it could be cultivated like a skill. Starting around 2013 districts introduced grit curricula, character report cards, and even plans to include grit in formal accountability systems by 2017. The U.S. Department of Education's 2013 report listed grit as a priority area for intervention, and the Institute of Education Sciences called for programs to increase it. Similar enthusiasm appeared in the United Kingdom where the Department for Education declared it would make the country a global leader in character education. [3][5][7][8][9]

West Point continued to collect grit scores for cadet selection and retention decisions, while Chicago public schools and some charter networks used similar measures to predict which teachers and students would persist. These policies were justified by the early Duckworth studies showing grit predicted completion rates even after controlling for cognitive ability. Later evidence that the predictive power was modest and largely redundant with conscientiousness did not lead to immediate reversal of the programs. [6][16]

The broader policy current also included efforts to downplay IQ in favor of non-cognitive measures when evaluating public programs. Achievement tests and grades were treated as contaminated by personality in ways that supposedly made them superior predictors of life outcomes, shaping how economists and policymakers assessed everything from welfare programs to teacher effectiveness. These choices rested on the contested premise that cognitive ability mattered less than previously thought. [10][13]

▶ Supporting Quotes (12)
“It’s being highlighted as a promising avenue for intervention by the US Department of Education, and it has been planned as a form of assessment in some schools beginning in 2017.”— True grit may be a false concept
“Schools and districts around the country are currently working hard on creating curricula for grit, and even accountability tests to measure it.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“agencies like the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), where the director called for developing interventions to bolster students’ grit (Shechtman, DeBarger, Dornsife, Rosier, & Yarnall, 2013).”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Despite the lack of empirical evidence training grit has been set as a priority by the US Department of Education (http://edf.stanford.edu/readings/download-promoting-grit-tenacity-and-perseverance-report) and the UK Department for Education (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/england-to-become-a-global-leader-of-teaching-character).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“The U.S. Department of Education even recommended we begin teaching grit in schools.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“This result has important implications for the interpretation of studies using scores on achievement tests and grades to explain differences in outcomes and for the use of standard cognitive measures to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“Grittier cadets are more likely than their less gritty peers to make it through the first arduous summer at West Point (Duckworth et al., 2007; Duckworth & Quinn, 2009).”— Self-Control and Grit: Related but Separable Determinants of Success
“Die Zahlen rechtfertigten die erfolgte Verschärfung des Ausweisungsrechts.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Es sei daher "unsäglich", dass die Bundesregierung die Ereignisse der Kölner Silvesternacht für eine schärfere Asylgesetzgebung instrumentalisiert habe.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Conscientiousness scores and grit scores are very highly correlated — between 80 and 98 percent.”— The Problem With Grit
““ ‘Female’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell,” reads the order. “ ‘Male’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“the passport guidelines, the administration has since clarified, will apply only to new and renewed passports.”— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
Harm Caused

The most immediate harm was the diversion of limited educational resources. Schools and districts spent time and money on grit curricula, character assessments, and teacher training that later reviews found had little evidence of effectiveness beyond what conscientiousness already predicted. This focus came at the expense of direct instruction and cognitive skill-building that meta-analyses have shown produce clearer gains. [3][6][7][8]

Students and teachers absorbed the message that success or failure hinged on personal perseverance, which risked fostering self-blame when structural obstacles proved more decisive. Commentators noted that an emphasis on grit could function as a way to locate problems inside individuals rather than in economic or racial inequities. At the same time, policymakers drew on related claims about personality and crime to justify stricter immigration measures, contributing to heightened public anxiety and, in some cases, attacks on refugee shelters. [18][21]

The intellectual opportunity costs were subtler but real. Decades of research showing the predictive power of general cognitive ability were partially eclipsed in policy conversation, potentially slowing progress on interventions that target the traits that actually explain the largest share of variance in outcomes. When re-analyses using representative samples found intelligence to be many times more predictive than grit, the earlier policy enthusiasm looked like an expensive detour. [2][13]

▶ Supporting Quotes (16)
“These two papers, and others that followed, created the impression that to understand and promote educational and economic success, we should focus more on noncognitive individual differences, particularly grit... rather than cognitive individual differences, particularly intelligence”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“One common criticism is that this message leads to a painful amount of self blame in, and prejudice against, people who fail at something. ... there’s a risk of wasting substantial resources if so many educational bodies put their weight behind an idea that turns out to be ill-defined and not very useful.”— True grit may be a false concept
“This compares to a much higher correlation of 0.50 between, say, SAT scores and performance in college.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“calls to intervene to improve students’ overall grit as a way to enhance their achievement are at best premature and at worst a mistake given our findings and those of others.”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“The effectiveness of training programs should be rigorously researched before they are rolled out widely.”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“Psychologists define conscientiousness as a trait determined by genetics and environment, not a skill that one can practice. ... That means it's fruitless to spend money on education programs designed specifically to promote conscientiousness.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“This result has important implications for the interpretation of studies using scores on achievement tests and grades to explain differences in outcomes and for the use of standard cognitive measures to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“most studies found that personality measures generally have weak relationship with outcomes once IQ is accounted for.”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“Moffitt’s research found that childhood risk factors do predict adult outcomes, such as receiving welfare and committing a crime, with “statistical significance.””— James Heckman on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Success
“effortful restraint of transient desires does not predict goal progress six, three, or even one month later [30,34].”— The fable of state self-control
“Im ersten Quartal 2016 waren es demnach 345 Fälle nach 472 im vierten Quartal vergangenen Jahres sowie 325 Fällen im dritten Quartal 2015.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“"Es hilft, die Diskussion zu versachlichen", sagte die Sprecherin.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“if only the most disadvantaged kids were a little 'grittier' they could make it in life rather than taking up larger questions of social, economic, and racial justice”— Research scholars to air problems with using 'grit' at school
“The EO does not “strip[ ] federal recognition of the gender identity of some 1.6 million trans and nonbinary Americans.””— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
““Only a small number of people were affected by” the false University of Virginia rape accusations. But they are still human beings who deserved to be exculpated! Or what about someone who languishes in jail for 20 years on the basis of a false conviction?”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
“B will always get 100 times the retweets, unfortunately.”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
Downfall

The assumption began to lose altitude in 2017 when Credé and colleagues published their meta-analysis of eighty-eight studies. They reported that grit correlated only 0.17 with grade-point average, that it overlapped almost completely with conscientiousness, and that passion for long-term goals added essentially nothing to prediction. The paper received attention in scientific circles and prompted Duckworth to make partial concessions about measurement and hype. [3][4][5]

Representative-sample studies delivered a sharper blow. Zisman and Ganzach's 2020 analysis of the NLSY97 found intelligence to be between 13 and 90 times more predictive than grit depending on the outcome. Re-analyses of the same datasets used by Borghans and Heckman reached similar conclusions once proper intelligence measures were restored. A 2016 British twin study showed grit was heritable, showed no shared-environment influence, and added almost nothing to the prediction of GCSE results once Big Five traits were included. [2][8][11]

By the early 2020s the accumulated evidence had produced a contested but substantial body of work challenging the original strong claims. Meta-analyses, longitudinal replications, and measurement critiques made it difficult to maintain that grit was both distinct from conscientiousness and more important than IQ. Schools and policymakers continued some grit-related programs, yet the intellectual momentum had shifted toward more cautious statements about its unique contribution. [9][13][17]

▶ Supporting Quotes (21)
“in their meta-analysis, “Much ado about grit” (2017), Credé, Tynan, and Harms (2017) found that grit is only moderately correlated with academic performance (r ¼ .17 between grit and high school grade point average [GPA])”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“We find that, in terms of DR2, intelligence contributes 48–90 times more than grit to educational success and 13 times more to job-market success. Conscientiousness also contributes to success more than grit but only twice as much.”— In a Representative Sample Grit Has a Negligible Effect on Educational and Economic Success Compared to Intelligence
“Credé and colleagues analyzed 88 experiments on grit reported in 73 papers, using data from 66,808 individuals.”— True grit may be a false concept
“The study, Much Ado about Grit: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Grit Literature, will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.”— MacArthur 'Genius' Angela Duckworth Responds To A New Critique Of Grit
“Thus, there is no evidence that a consistent grit factor or factors exist across age and culture.”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Yet despite these and other critiques (Muenks et al., 2017; Muenks, Yang, & Wigfield, 2018), Duckworth et al. (2019) continue to claim that “grit seems to enable individuals to get going when the going gets tough” (p. 23503).”— Grit: The Long and Short of It
“Personality, primarily Conscientiousness, predicts about 6% of the variance in GCSE scores, but Grit adds little to this prediction. Moreover, multivariate twin analyses showed that roughly two-thirds of the GCSE prediction is mediated genetically. Grit Perseverance of Effort and Big-5 Conscientiousness are to a large extent the same trait both phenotypically (r=0.53) and genetically (genetic correlation = 0.86).”— True grit and genetics: predicting academic achievement from personality
“In researching grit, his team reviewed 88 independent studies which involved more than 66,000 participants. Their findings call into question whether grit is a trait that helps to predict success, and whether it can be improved through practice.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“A separate study by researchers at Yale University found that school outcomes are predicted by conscientiousness and emotional regulation, but not by grit.”— Are the Benefits of Grit Exaggerated?
“Both grades and achievement tests are substantially better predictors of important life outcomes than IQ. The reason is that both capture personality traits that have independent predictive power beyond that of IQ.”— What grades and achievement tests measure
“neither group of authors attempted to take a closer look at the psychological measures within the different datasets to elaborate on the possible reasons for the discordant conclusions.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“Only one composite score from both studies may be seen as a proper measure of intelligence. It was used in Borghans et al.’s (2016) study that employed a sample of participants from the NLSY79 dataset.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“In their paper (see Table 3, columns 2 and 8), the average R2 from six studies is .053 (r = .230) for predicting educational attainment from the Big Five, and it is .040 (r = .200) for predicting pay”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“Golsteyn et al. (2022) pointed out that the discordant findings across the datasets are driven by differences in the measures used, the choice of a particular version of the measure, the populations considered, the circumstances under which tests were taken, and the availability of life outcomes in each dataset.”— Intelligence, Personality, and the Prediction of Life Outcomes: Borghans et al.(2016) vs.Zisman and Ganzach(2022) Debate
“Zisman & Ganzach (2022) re-analyzed the NLSY79 and the MIDUS data used by Borghans et al. (2016)... They failed to replicate Borghans et al. (2016) in the MIDUS... Bardach et al. (2023) evaluated the longitudinal association between personality, intelligence and academic achievement”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“despite what the earlier reviews and meta-analyses showed (Gottfredson, 1997; Poropat, 2009; Schmidt & Hunter, 2004).”— How IQ became less important than personality: A critical examination of Borghans et al. (2016)
“people high in trait self-control do not engage more state self-control [23,24]. ... people high in trait self-control report spending not more, but less time restraining wayward desires [23].”— The fable of state self-control
“Dem BKA-Bericht zufolge ist die Zahl der von Zuwanderern begangenen Straftaten Anfang dieses Jahres deutlich zurückgegangen. Die Fallzahlen sanken von Januar bis März um mehr als 18 Prozent.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“Die Ministeriumssprecherin sagte, es gebe in der aktuellen Statistik kaum sexuelle Übergriffe oder Mord- und Totschlagdelikte, die von Zuwanderern begangen worden seien.”— Bundeskriminalamt: "Zuwanderer sind nicht krimineller als Deutsche"
“you already contain the genetic material to set your body down a male or female developmental pathway, even if sex differentiation doesn’t occur until later on (gonad development in utero and full sexual maturity after puberty). You can, in fact, karyotype an embryo and determine which category it fits in”— You Can’t Pseudoscience (Or Even Science) Your Way Out Of A Genuine Trans Rights Debate
“there is often a fundamental level of bullshit — or at least hypocrisy — to these arguments, because the people making them often have rather niche interests themselves.”— “Why Do You Write About This Rather Than That?” Is Almost Always A Lazy And Unserious Derailing Tactic
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