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Waiting for the Right Wave: The Delay of Gratification
Georgann Zachary Willis, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Psychology
Umpqua Community College
Stanford Marshmallow Experiment• Walter Mischel’s late 60s/early 70s studies using
Bing Nursery School children (4-6 yrs old)• Presented children with a choice of one small,
visible reward immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period (15 minutes) a visible treat was placed on a plate in front of them and they were left alone in the room
• If they delayed gratification by not eating the treat, they get two treats when the researcher returns
Http://youtu.be/QX_oy9614HQ
Benefits of Delaying Gratification
Longitudinal studies revealed children who were able to wait longer for preferred rewards tended to have more positive life outcomes– Better academic performance– Earn and save more money– Better physical health and greater happiness– Less likely to go to jail– Less likely to be overweight/obese– Less likely to use drugs
SES and Delay of Gratification• Mischel originated his idea while studying different
groups in Trinidad where he found the lower SES group were less likely to delay gratification
• While delay of gratification has often been described as a “middle class value” it most likely comes down to the stability and reliability of the environment a child experiences growing up
• When people are unreliable and having enough resources is not guaranteed a mental script developed that the best course of action is to live for today and use it before it gets taken away
SES and Delay of Gratification • Mental scripts developed early in life are hard to
break, even if the environment changes • 78 out of 100 NFL players are bankrupt within three
years of retirement• 60 out of 100 NBA players go completely broke
within five year of retirement• Winning the lottery if you are low SES doubles your
chances of bankruptcy • High levels of personal debt and bankruptcy in
middle SES are driving a reconsideration of hypothesized middle class delay of gratification
Learning Self-Control• Self-control is the ability to control emotions and
behavior to limit our impulses• One of the most replicated findings is that self-
control is finite, we only have a limited amount and it gets depleted as we use it
• The strategy then is to increase the amount of resources we have to draw on to exert self-control
Learn How to Manage Your Stress• Being under stress uses up our stored energy and
make us choose short-term outcomes over long term goals
Change Your Perception • Cool the hot aspects of your environment (remove
emotion from it)• Change “I can’t” to “I don’t” • “I can’t” limits you and reminds you that you are
being forced• “I don’t” is a self-affirmation which shows you are in
control of the situation and making an active choice to stick to your plan
Get Enough Sleep• Lack of sleep creates a chronic stress that impairs the
body and the brain, this leaves the prefrontal cortex impaired
• Noted sleep researcher Daniel Kripke found people who sleep between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a night live the longest, are happier and most productive
• Women tend to need a bit more sleep than men (20 minutes on average)
Learn to Meditate• As little as 8 weeks of brief daily meditation will
improve attention, increase focus, lower stress and increase self-awareness
Better Exercise and Nutrition• Your brain may only be 3% of your body weight but it
needs 20% of your oxygen and glucose to run it efficiently
• Exercise increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain• Both mindful, relaxing exercise such as yoga and
intense physical training provides benefits• A healthy diet increases energy levels which allow
the brain to work more efficiently
Not Now, But Later• We are less tormented by temptation when we
eventually receive a reward• This also helps to cool our hot environment, we are
not victims who “can’t” but people who “can, but not right now”