Delay of Gratification in Native and White Children: A Cross-cultural Comparison

Abstract

The study was designed to assess whether the development of the delay of gratification found in White children is evident in Native children from an isolated Ojibwa band in northern Ontario. Initially, the Native children's reward values were assessed and from those an immediate small reward and a delayed larger reward were selected. A group of White children were similarly tested and a subsample of White children were selected whose reward values matched those of the Natives. In a second session, once the children's understanding of "one day later" had been determined, they were posed with the conventional delay of gratification task. It was found that both the Native and White children showed the acquisition of the delay of gratification with age and showed it at approximately the same rate. However, the Native children tended to show less delay of gratification than did the White children.