When struggle becomes strength: The psychology of grit, flourishing, and well-being as mediators of motivational intensity in STEM students

Investment in STEM education is increasing worldwide, but student engagement and retention remain problematic. This highlights the need to understand the psychological processes that underpin motivation, particularly in non-Western nations such as Saudi Arabia, where these objectives are reflected in national development strategies, including Vision 2030. This research examines both direct and indirect hypotheses regarding how grit influences motivational intensity among Saudi university students enrolled in STEM fields, with flourishing and affect balance as potential mediating variables, employing a culturally informed mixed-methods approach. Following a sequential explanatory design, I initially summarised 1050 STEM students' survey responses using PLS-SEM and then conducted qualitative interviews with 20 purposively selected students. Grit, flourishing, positive/negative emotions, and motivational intensity were measured using validated scales. The final model demonstrated moderate explanatory power for motivational intensity. The perseverance dimension of grit operated exclusively through mediating pathways, with flourishing emerging as the strongest mediator, followed by positive emotions. Unexpectedly, negative emotions were also positively associated with motivational intensity, a paradox resolved by qualitative findings that revealed culturally specific meaning-making processes. The consistency dimension of grit, by contrast, exerted a direct effect on motivational intensity, suggesting it operates through a qualitatively different psychological mechanism. These relationships were explained using qualitative data, which showed that cultural constructs such as Islamic sabr (patience), collectivist obligations, and cultural meaning-making systems recast negative emotions as markers of meaningful challenge and purposeful engagement. Findings indicate that the two dimensions of grit may operate through different psychological processes, with overall well-being supporting the transformation of personality traits into sustained effort.