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Research points to the pedagogical value of an engaged and community service-learning approach to developing understanding of course content (Astin, Vogelgesang, Ikeda, & Yee, 2000). To help students achieve a better understanding of how the discipline of psychology contributes to the discipline of law, some students in a second year psychology class participated in a community-based research project, partnering with the Elizabeth Fry Society and the John Howard Society. The objective of the study was to determine whether there are differences in attitudes towards the criminal justice system between individuals who have, and have not, been in conflict with the law. The student-researchers interviewed men and women from the John Howard and Elizabeth Fry Societies, who had been in conflict with the law, regarding their attitudes toward the criminal justice system, and compared their responses to those given by undergraduate psychology students who did not participate as student-researchers in the project. Responses revealed some commonalities (e.g., recommendations to change sentencing practices) as well as differences (e.g., satisfaction with the justice system). The students wrote a research report describing the findings of the study as well as their reflections on their experience. In addition to the positive feedback received from the community organizations, the students participating in the project reported that they found it to be a positive, enriching, and rewarding experience.

In high-performance sport, an athlete's ability to overcome setbacks and sustain their pursuit of long-term goals is essential for success. Grit (i.e., passion and perseverance over long-terms) has been linked to success in a variety of domains but is often critiqued for its limited predictive utility when compared to other psychological variables including self-control, conscientiousness, and mental toughness. The purpose of this study was to examine whether grit predicted important athlete outcomes (i.e., various measures of sport performance and athlete well-being) beyond other determinants of success. Data from 214 collegiate student-athletes (111 women, 103 men; M age = 21.02, SD = 2.26) from Western Canadian universities were analysed. When predicting performance, the addition of the grit subscales (i.e., consistency of interests, perseverance of effort, adaptability to situations) explained an additional 11% of variance (R 2 = 0.37, F [7, 203] = 7.16, p <.001) beyond self-control, conscientiousness, and mental toughness in subjective sport performance perceptions; however, grit did not add unique variance when entered into models predicting athlete goal achievement perceptions or highest level of competition. When predicting well-being, addition of the grit subscales added 18% of unique variance (R 2 = 0.43, F [7, 203] = 21.43, p <.001) beyond other determinants of success in eudaimonic well-being, and 5% (R 2 = 0.17, F [7, 203] = 6.95, p <.001) in satisfaction with sport, but did not add any unique variance to the model predicting mood. The partial support of the predictive utility of grit illustrates the complexity of forecasting success in sport and offers evidence that grit should continue to be studied as a motivational disposition in the domain of sport. • Grit subscales (PE, CI, AS) added unique variance to models predicting performance and well-being. • PE was a significant predictor of some measures of performance and well-being, while CI was not. • A new grit subscale—AS—was a significant predictor of some measures of performance and well-being. • Mental toughness was the most consistent predictor of our six performance and well-being. • Conscientiousness and self-control did not significantly contribute to regression models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]