028. Willpower ≠ reward (pt. 4/?)
The marshmallow experiment and me
As I wrote in previous posts1, I was very comfortable with saving money and not spending it on myself. If there was one thing I was good at ever since I was young, it was delayed gratification.
The takeaway from the Stanford marshmallow experiment was that students who were able to delay gratification longer ended up with better life results, such as higher SAT scores, lower likelihood of obesity, etc.2
However, in all of these studies, the reward of a marshmallow is guaranteed, whether you waited or not.
How long would you wait if you didn’t know whether a marshmallow was coming?
When I was working a salaried job, I could expect a paycheck every two weeks, no questions asked.
That certainty vanished when I quit my job. Suddenly, my Delayed Gratification Guaranteed Success strategy didn’t work anymore.
Sitting around and waiting for my reward was not going to get me very far.
However, another replication found that socio-economic factors played a more significant role than early-age self-control in important life outcomes. What’s the hurry with eating a marshmallow when you have a full snack pantry at home? (Revisiting the Marshmallow Test)