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Cited by 3,397Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentGrit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation

Delay of gratification in children.

Mischel, Walter, Shoda, Yuichi, Rodriguez, Monica L.·1989·Science
DOI 10.1126/science.2658056
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Abstract

To function effectively, individuals must voluntarily postpone immediate gratification and persist in goal-directed behavior for the sake of later outcomes. The present research program analyzed the nature of this type of future-oriented self-control and the psychological processes that underlie it. Enduring individual differences in self-control were found as early as the preschool years. Those 4-year-old children who delayed gratification longer in certain laboratory situations developed into more cognitively and socially competent adolescents, achieving higher scholastic performance and coping better with frustration and stress. Experiments in the same research program also identified specific cognitive and attentional processes that allow effective self-regulation early in the course of development. The experimental results, in turn, specified the particular types of preschool delay situations diagnostic for predicting aspects of cognitive and social competence later in life.

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  • Mischel (1989) showed that children typically behave in one of two ways: either they ring the bell almost immediately in order to have the cookie, which means they only get one; or they wait and optimize their gains to receive both cookies.

    “Mischel (1989) showed that children typically behave in one of two ways: 1) either they ring the bell almost immediately in order to have the cookie, which means they only get one; or 2) they wait and optimize their gains to receive both cookies.”

    From <i>The Adolescent Brain</i> (2008) · cites this paper as Mischel et al. 1989

  • Some individuals are better than others in their ability to control impulses in the presence of highly salient incentives, and this bias can be detected in early childhood.

    “This observation suggests that some individuals are better than others in their ability to control impulses in the presence of highly salient incentives, and this bias can be detected in early childhood (Mischel et al. 1989).”

    From <i>The Adolescent Brain</i> (2008) · cites this paper as Mischel et al. 1989

  • Children who successfully waited often employed strategies such as turning away from the marshmallow, thinking of the visible marshmallow as merely a photograph, or distracting themselves by imagining instead the taste of salty pretzels to redirect 'wanting' toward that different food.

    “Indeed, children who successfully waited often employed strategies such as turning away from the marshmallow, thinking of the visible marshmallow as merely a photograph, or distracting themselves by imagining instead the taste of salty pretzels to redirect ‘wanting’ toward that different food.”

    From Evolving Concepts of Emotion and Motivation (2018) · cites this paper as Mischel et al., 1989

  • Children found it much harder to wait if any marshmallows were actually present to be seen and perhaps smelled.

    “Children found it much harder to wait if any marshmallows were actually present to be seen and perhaps smelled (Mischel et al., 1989).”

    From Evolving Concepts of Emotion and Motivation (2018) · cites this paper as Mischel et al., 1989

  • In humans, self-control has been linked to health, economic, social, and academic achievement, and is known to be heritable.

    “In humans, self-control has been linked to health, economic, social, and academic achievement, and is known to be heritable (170-172).”

    From The evolution of self-control. (2014) · cites this paper as [171]

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Authors
Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University (US)
  • Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
ORCID
Shoda, Yuichi
Venue
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published
1989-05-26
Volume
244
Issue
4907
Pages
933-938
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.2658056
OpenAlex
W2004704125
Cited by
3,397
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 77 · 2025: 105 · 2024: 108 · 2023: 116 · 2022: 163 · 2021: 166 · 2020: 258 · 2019: 240 · 2018: 194 · 2017: 177 · 2016: 169 · 2015: 193 · 2014: 174 · 2013: 171 · 2012: 143
FWCI
4.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
Keywords
delay of gratification, self-control, preschool children, individual differences, cognitive skills, social competence, scholastic performance, stress coping, self-regulation, attentional processes
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Attention, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Cognition, Female, Frustration, Humans, Individuality, Male, Reward, Social Adjustment

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