Author: Joshua Payne
Editors: Rachel Chen, Emily Yu, Ken Saito
Artist: Emily Tai
The Marshmallow Test, a famous experiment on self-control, was carried out in the 1960s by Walter Mischel, a Stanford professor and psychologist. From his results, Mischel discovered one of the most important factors needed to succeed: the ability to delay gratification—the act of resisting an impulse to take an immediately available reward in the hope of obtaining a more-valued one.
The experiment went like this: researchers brought in 653 elementary school children and sat them down individually in private rooms. Then, the researcher placed a marshmallow in front of each child. The researcher told them that he would leave the room briefly but would be back soon. Before he left, he gave the child a choice. He said, “You can eat the marshmallow now, but if you wait until I return, you can have two.” The researcher left the room and had the children wait 15 minutes. It was a difficult choice for the children to make: either one marshmallow right away or two marshmallows later. Many of the children ate the marshmallow the moment the researcher left the room. Others resisted for a few minutes but eventually gave in to the temptation. However, only 30% managed to wait for the whole 15 minutes and, once the researcher returned, received two marshmallows.
Years later, Mischel evaluated those same children's academic and personal progress. He found that the children who could restrain themselves for the whole fifteen minutes had higher grades and even scored an average of 210 points higher on their SATs. The children with self-control also performed better in sports, were less likely to abuse drugs, were healthier and less likely to suffer from obesity, had better social skills, and performed better in many other areas of life. The study proved that children who could delay gratification were the ones who got ahead in life.
When the children had reached their mid-forties, Walter Mischel and his team conducted another follow-up study, using an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to show activity in the brain. The brain images of those who delayed gratification showed that the prefrontal cortex area was more active than the other group. The prefrontal cortex is used for problem-solving, creative thinking, and control of impulsive behavior, so this evidence is telling. In contrast, within the brains of those who had not delayed gratification, the ventral striatum, the part of the brain linked to desire, pleasure, and addictions was more active. It is interesting to note that Mischel’s findings were as true when the subjects were 40 as when they were 20.
However, the participants in the Marshmallow Test were children. Suppose the ones who waited for the second marshmallow became successful, and those who didn’t wait were less successful. Wouldn’t that mean the ability to delay gratification is an inherent trait determined at birth?
We can answer this question from a study at Rochester University in 2012. They replicated the Marshmallow Test but with a little twist. Each child had a few interactions with the researcher before being offered the marshmallow. One group of children was exposed to unreliable encounters with the researchers. For example, the researchers brought a child some crayons to color with and promised to let them use the “big” set if they waited, but they didn’t keep their word. Meanwhile, the other group of children had very dependable researchers and, therefore, had very reliable experiences.
These pre-experiences heavily impacted the following Marshmallow Test, as only one out of the 14 children waited the full 15 minutes in the group with the “unreliable researchers.” The children in the unreliable group didn’t believe the researcher would bring them another one and waited for an average of three minutes and two seconds. On the other hand, children who had reliable researchers waited an average of 12 minutes and two seconds. In the “reliable” group, nine out of 14 children waited for the entire 15 minutes. Children in the reliable group waited almost 400% longer than the unreliable group. Just a few minutes of reliable or unreliable experiences were enough to change each child's actions in either direction. Therefore, the ability to delay gratification isn’t a pre-determined trait but a skill that can be taught and influenced by other factors. “Despite all the factors that urge us to indulge, you are ultimately in control of yourself,” says Dr. Michael Shermer in the Wall Street Journal. Our brains are hardwired to seek instant gratification as we want rewards as soon as possible.
So, how can we train and improve our ability to delay gratification to get ahead?
You can set some conditions, a checklist where you record the things that you have to do each day. Then, set some limits to restrict the amount of reward you receive at a time. The conditions are what needs to happen before you enjoy an activity, while the limits are for how long and how often you can enjoy it. So, instead of being an impulsive choice, it is a reward for your patience, discipline, and hard work.
Given a choice between eating a burger, scrolling on TikTok, and watching television versus eating a salad, reading a book, or studying, the majority will gravitate to the former. This is because delayed gratifications are not enjoyable at the moment, and often takes weeks, months, or even years to see the potential rewards. We’d much rather indulge in things that give us instant pleasure. However, not everything can be divided into delayed or instant gratification. Some activities fall into both categories, and these are the best pursuits you can have, as they are both enjoyable and almost effortless to complete. Many activities offer both instant and delayed gratification, like playing a sport with your friends—it provides both the immediate gratification of friendship and the long-term benefits of exercise.
Another way to combine instant and delayed gratification is by pairing two or more activities together: one that gives instant gratification and another that gives delayed gratification. The pleasurable activity can serve as a way to motivate yourself to start the harder activity. Your brain will then connect the two activities.
Mischel’s experiment clearly shows that people who delay gratification tend to be more successful in their academics, work, and relationships. In immediate terms, if you skip a workout today, there won’t be a visible change to your body tomorrow. Neither will it be much different if you go work out today. But over weeks, months, or even years, the effects on your body will be very different. Over an extended period, your choices will ultimately determine your future.
Citations:
Kidd, Celeste, et al. “Rational snacking: Young children's decision-making on the
marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability.” Cognition,
vol. 126, no. 1, 2013, pp. 109–114.
Mischel, Walter. The Marshmallow Test: Why Self-Control Is the Engine of Success. Little, Brown,
2014.
Shoda, Yuichi, et al. “Predicting Adolescent Cognitive and Self-Regulatory Competencies
From Preschool Delay Gratification: Identifying Diagnostic Conditions.” Developmental
Psychology, vol. 26, no. 6, 1990, pp. 978–986.
Mischel, Walter, et al. “Cohort Effects in Children's Delay of Gratification.” Developmental
Psychology, vol. 54, no. 8, 2018, pp. 1395–1407.
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