So this is a mediation diagram in a different way starts with purpose and
ends with academic performance and it asks the question like why do these kids,
which we see in our data kids who have purpose are better at school, why?
And this is David's guess about that,
he led a study where he randomly assigned kids to develop purpose.
How the hell do you do that?
He gave kids a simple writing prompt.
Said, what are things that you really care about?
He's such a great adolescent psychologist.
He writes like a teenager talks.
>> [LAUGH] >> So it's like,
what are things that really piss you off?
And I'm like, what are things that really get you mad about like the world?
Like what do you change if you could change anything?
And so, these kids write stuff like it's unfair, it's racist.
My neighborhood looks like shit.
It's like there's garbage everywhere.
And then, you're like get them all excited.
Then, you in a very subtle way get them to think about what they're
doing in algebra class might connect to that personal, emotional valu
that is the whole intervention.
If you want to read it, it's published in JPS Feeds and on my website.
And you find it, whoa before it gets taken down, and
whoa you did not find it in Diamond.
>> [LAUGH] >> When you find it,
that when you experimentally manipulate purpose,
you can increase effort and objective academic performance.
He finds evidence for this.
So that's an experiment not a correlational study and
that suggests to me that at least I know of these three
possible stories, like is purpose driving grit or is grit driving purpose
Then at least one of those errors has some evidence behind it which is
a purpose can increase your persistence for what you do.