Abstract
Since the 1970s, studies have shown that children able to resist temptation by waiting for two marshmallows later rather than taking one now tend to do better on measures of health and success later in life. Recently, a multicultural approach to the marshmallow test indicates that what kids are willing to wait for depends largely on their cultural upbringing. A recent study found that children in Kyoto, Japan, waited three times longer for food than for gifts, whereas children in Boulder, Colorado, waited nearly four times longer for gifts than for food. This suggests that some children thought to be lacking in self-control may have instead just had different cultural values around waiting. The findings show that fostering simple, culturally appropriate habits in young children may influence their development in ways that make it easier for them to delay gratification later.
Researchers at the University of Colorado recruited 144 children from Boulder and Kyoto, randomly assigning each to a test involving either a marshmallow or a wrapped present. The children in Japan were overwhelmingly better at waiting for the marshmallow, with a median wait time of 15 minutes, but they waited less than five minutes to open the present. The reverse was true in the United States, with children waiting almost 15 minutes to open the present versus less than four to gobble the marshmallow. Across cultures, children who were more attuned to social conventions (as measured by surveys of children) waited longer. Children who had a habit of waiting for meals at home and elsewhere waited longer to eat the marshmallow. The researcher noted that cultivating habits of waiting for others could be doing much more than supporting politeness. Such habits may change brain systems in ways that make delaying gratification more automatic, which could make it easier for children to succeed in future life situations.