This study has been going on for 40 years. Talk about longitudinal research!
In the 1960s Walter Mischel, PhD, gave 500 4-year-olds this choice individually: they could eat the marshmallow he had given them as soon as he left the room or they could have two marshallows if they waited until he came back in 15 minutes.
It was a study in self-control and delayed gratification.
Fourteen years later the high-delay group, those children who waited so they could have two, "earned higher SAT scores and had better social-cognitive and emotional coping skills as teenagers."
When they were in their forties, "the high-delay group also had higher levels of academic achievement, lower body mass index and lower rates of drug abuse, divorce and separation."
Self-control and the ability to delay gratification basically had become a lifestyle, with benefits in school, weight control, addictions, and marriage.
So, parents, teaching your children to not eat that cookie until AFTER dinner, insisting that your teens not get on facebook until AFTER they have finished their homework, not only keeps their appetite in tact for dinner and gets homework done. In addition, the ability to delay gratification that they will learn is setting up an entire lifetime of benefits for them.
Economists are now comparing the financial management and decision-making abilities of Mischel's low- and high-delay groups. Want to make a prediction about which group has saved money for retirement and which group has spent their money?
(J. Chamerlin reported on this research in the December 2011 issue of Monitor on Psychology)
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Jessica Rogers
ReplyDeleteMWF 9:10 Social Psyc
That is probably one of the most interesting studies I have ever heard about. I have always thought self-control is difficult but hey the pay off is always better. I just find using marshmallows in a study a little odd. Why not a cookie?
I find that this study makes a lot of sense. In this day and age we live in such a fast pace, me society that delay in gratification is not common to most individuals. We as parents are teaching our kids from the time of birth that make enoough noise you get what you want.
ReplyDeleteBrandy Hoyt
MWF 11:10 AM General Psychology
I agree with the findings proposed in this study because self-control and discipline promotes a better understanding of how to manage things that we encounter everyday. Learning the importance of committing and accomplishing the goal first gives us better satisfaction and sense of success knowing that hard-work pays off, instead of being given rewards prematurely that fuels dependency and addiction. I experienced the same situation when I'm rewarded with extra time and I just wasted it ,instead of studying early and getting a better grade which is more rewarding for me. Better discipline equals best rewards.
ReplyDeleteKelvin Duke Gomez
MWF 11:10 AM Gen. Psychology
This seems like common sense to me. Those that are willing to wait, work harder, see the long term benefits rather than requiring instant reward would naturally do "better" in life. It's somewhat sad to think about the way the future will likely unfold for society in general. We live in an instant gratification, "now, now, now... actually, five minutes ago" world.. Kids of today are eating marshmallow and then complaining, wanting to know why the kid next to him has a slightly larger/different marshmallow.
ReplyDeleteSarah Girty
Social Psych - 9:10-10:00
This study made a lot of sense to me but it also makes me wonder which child i would have been. Based on the information given, i believe I would have been the child that ate the marshmallow and only got the one.
ReplyDeleteShawna Carrier
MWF 12:10
General Psychology