STOP! Don’t Eat the Marshmallow Just Yet!

If I were to give you some smarties now and tell you that if you can wait for 15 minutes without eating them, I will give you more smarties, would you wait?

In this post, we will discuss why waiting (delayed gratification) may be better and why it may be important later in life at three different levels of complexity.

Level 1 (4-9 years old)- Why is it good to be able to stop myself sometimes from doing what I want?

Mummy and Daddy may tell you that you need to study hard when you are older so you can get good marks on tests and that you should play less but studying is sooo boring and playing is more fun. Mummy and Daddy also say that studying hard is important so that you can get a good job. Do you listen to Mummy and Daddy or play with your friends?

In a few experiments, the researchers wanted to look at how 4 year olds can control their own behaviour on a test called the ‘Marshmallow test’. The child was first given a marshmallow but was told that if he/she can wait until the researcher came back, the child would be given another marshmallow. The child who was able to wait for the researcher to come back would show delayed gratification (able to wait to get more happiness with the two marshmallows) and can stop themself from wanting to eat the marshmallow NOW.

The results show that some children chose to eat the marshmallow while other children used many different ways to stop themselves from eating the marshmallow. Some children chose to focus on the marshmallow by touching, playing with the marshmallow or even thinking about how it will taste...

while other children did not focus on the marshmallow by looking away and playing alone. Children who did not focus on the marshmallow were better at waiting for the second marshmallow!

So now, even though I know that studying is boring, if I work hard, I may be able to get good marks and that will make everyone very very happy. I can play with my friends too but maybe not as much as reading and learning (which will take a lot of control).

Level 2 (10-14 years old)- Just because I’m not able to control myself earlier in life, how would that affect me now?

Should I get that bubble tea now or should I use that money to save up for that game that I really really want to get? The bubble tea would give me immediate satisfaction but would only last for a short time while the game would delay my satisfaction and can entertain me for a very very long time. If you choose to save the money to buy the game, that’s an example of delayed gratification. What does it mean to me now if I was not able to delay gratification when I was younger?

In a few papers, researchers wanted to understand if there are long-term consequences for children who are unable to delay gratification at a young age of 4. At 4 years old, children were given a ‘marshmallow test’ where they were given a marshmallow but was told that they can choose to either eat the marshmallow now or wait until the researcher was done completing some work to get another marshmallow. Children who were able to wait until the researcher returned were said to be able to delay gratification.

In one study, the same group of children were measured 30 years later to see if there was a difference in the health between the children, who were able to delay gratification, and children who were not able to.

Independent variable (Variable that the researcher is changing): Length of time the child can delay eating the marshmallow.

Dependent variable (Variable that the researcher is measuring): Health (Body-Mass Index).

The results showed a negative correlation between the length of time that the child can delay gratification and their Body-Mass Index (in simplified form, the lower the BMI, the healthier the child); children who waited for the second marshmallow grew up healthier than children who could not wait for the second marshmallow 30 years later.

In another study, that used a similar process as the ‘marshmallow test’, 11 to 18 year old children who wanted a small reward immediately rather than a big reward a week later showed more negative habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs and did not do well on tests in school.

Independent variable: Length of time that the child can delay getting the reward.

Dependent variable: Smoking habits, drinking habits, drug habits and academic grades.

Thus, the ability to regulate (to control) your own behaviours by waiting for a better reward has an effect later on in life that is related to health, habits and grades in school.

Level 3 (15 years old and above)- Can I train myself to be better able to delay gratification?

Should I go spend my money on food delivery or save my allowance to get a new gaming console? I can technically eat the cheaper food in school but it is not as good as the pizza I can get delivered. Hmmm… Let me weigh out the pros and cons…

What do you think I should do? If I choose to save the money for the gaming console, that is an example of delayed gratification.

In a famous longitudinal study (an experiment that takes place over a number of years), known as the ‘Marshmallow test’, 4 year old children were given a marshmallow and were told that they can either eat the marshmallow now or wait until the researcher returned from his errands to receive another marshmallow. The results showed that children who were able to delay gratification, by waiting for the second marshmallow, performed better academically later in life and were also healthier. However, this raises the question of whether people can learn to delay gratification.

In a study, researchers wanted to investigate if the use of an intervention, called the Attention Training Technique (ATT), that reduced attention towards one’s own emotions, thoughts and moods and instead increased executive control (ability to use certain complex mental processes to achieve goals, in this case, obtaining the second marshmallow) would help delay gratification.

Independent variable (Variable that the researcher is manipulating): Intervention (ATT) or no intervention.

Dependent variable (Variable that the researcher is measuring): Length of time that the person does not eat the marshmallow.

The results showed that the intervention increased the children’s ability to wait in order to receive the second marshmallow.

In another study, children who were involved in an intervention that engaged them in ritualistic behaviours through games, that helped them develop more inhibitory control (control in stopping a certain behaviour) and attention, to improve the regulation of one’s behaviour. These children were not given a reason for the rules in the game and were told that ‘it has always been done this way’ so that children can interpret these rules any way they liked. These students were then given a similar test to the marshmallow test with results that showed that such rituals actually improved these children’s ability to delay gratification.

Thus, there are ways to improve the ability to delay gratification, and that difficulties in controlling one’s urges earlier in life may not always lead to health problems and poor academic results.

With that said, there are other people at the other end of the spectrum who would work hard all their lives to earn a lot of money only to realise that they are at the end of their life. So the question now is to what extent should delaying gratification be good for us?

References:

Beacham, S. (n.d.). One Marshmallow, Or Two? Retrieved July 28, 2020, from http://www.kidsfirstsports.com/uploads/asawyer/news/2013-05/Stanford-Marshmallow.pdf

Murray, J., Theakston, A., & Wells, A. (2016). Can the attention training technique turn one marshmallow into two? Improving children's ability to delay gratification. Behaviour research and therapy, 77, 34-39.

Rybanska, V., McKay, R., Jong, J., & Whitehouse, H. (2018). Rituals improve children's ability to delay gratification. Child Development, 89(2), 349-359.

Schlam, T. R., Wilson, N. L., Shoda, Y., Mischel, W., & Ayduk, O. (2013). Preschoolers' delay of gratification predicts their body mass 30 years later. The Journal of pediatrics, 162(1), 90-93.

Steelandt, S., Thierry, B., Broihanne, M. H., & Dufour, V. (2012). The ability of children to delay gratification in an exchange task. Cognition, 122(3), 416-425.

Wulfert, E., Block, J. A., Santa Ana, E., Rodriguez, M. L., & Colsman, M. (2002). Delay of gratification: Impulsive choices and problem behaviors in early and late adolescence. Journal of personality, 70(4), 533-552.