The Influence of Chronotype and Grit on Lifestyle and Physical Activity

Authors

  • Melody F. Allee Oral Roberts University
  • Sarah E. Anderson Oral Roberts University
  • Myra J. Bloom Oral Roberts University
  • Scarlet R. Jost Oral Roberts University
  • Donald P. Keating III Oral Roberts University
  • Andrew S.I.D. Lang Oral Roberts University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9922-1414
  • Nancy V. Mankin Oral Roberts University
  • Zachary W. Mast Oral Roberts University
  • Philip P. Nelson Oral Roberts University
  • Esther M. Spear Oral Roberts University
  • Enrique F. Valderrama Oral Roberts University

Keywords:

chronotype, college students, grit, healthy lifestyle, MEQ, physically active lifestyle, steps

Abstract

Background:  The chronotype of a person refers to an individual's natural sleep-wake cycle and whether that individual prefers morning or evening activities, and grit is an individual's perseverance and passion for long-term goals.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between grit, chronotype, physical activity, and leading a healthy lifestyle in college-age students.
Methods:  Health and fitness data (i.e., chronotype, grit, lifestyle assessment score, and daily steps) from 431 first-semester university students at a private college were collected and analyzed. 
Results: This study found that grit and chronotype both have significant correlations with living a healthy lifestyle and with physical activity. Grit more accurately predicts a person's lifestyle (β = -13.712, r = 0.39, p < 0.0001) while chronotype more accurately predicts the physical activity, or steps, of a person (β = 66.48, r = .19, p = .0001). Chronotype can also accurately predict the grit of a person (r = .25, p < .0001), and it was found that morning people tend to have more grit.
Conclusions:  This study concluded that grit, chronotype, steps, and a healthy lifestyle are all significantly correlated with each other. Knowing the relationship between endogenous chronotype, grit, and living a physically active and healthy lifestyle can help inform policy decisions related to the goal of strengthening an institution's inclusive and healthy academic community.

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Published

2020-11-06

How to Cite

Allee, M. F., Anderson, S. E., Bloom, M. J., Jost, S. R., Keating III, D. P., Lang, A. S., Mankin, N. V., Mast, Z. W., Nelson, P. P., Spear, E. M., & Valderrama, E. F. (2020). The Influence of Chronotype and Grit on Lifestyle and Physical Activity. Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal, 4(2), 57–70. Retrieved from https://www.osu.tests.sfulib4.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/BHAC/article/view/7617

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Feature Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Melody F. Allee, Sarah E. Anderson, Myra J. Bloom, Scarlet R. Jost, Donald P. Keating III, Andrew S.I.D. Lang, Nancy V. Mankin, Zachary W. Mast, Philip P. Nelson, Esther M. Spear, Enrique F. Valderrama

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.