How a simple experiment with children and treats uncovered profound insights about willpower, life outcomes, and the modern challenges of delayed gratification
The classic marshmallow test puts children’s willpower to the ultimate challenge
Few psychological experiments have captured the public imagination quite like the Stanford Marshmallow Test. In this deceptively simple study, children were presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: eat the treat right away, or wait a short period and receive two treats instead. Behind this straightforward premise lies a fascinating exploration of human willpower, decision-making, and the ability to delay gratification.
The video below shows modern children participating in a version of this famous experiment. As you watch their adorable struggles with temptation, consider the remarkable implications this simple test has had for our understanding of human development—and what it might reveal about your own relationship with delayed gratification.
Children demonstrate a range of strategies (and struggles) when faced with the marshmallow test
As entertaining as these children’s marshmallow struggles are, the test’s creator, psychologist Walter Mischel, wasn’t just creating cute videos. His research sought to understand the cognitive mechanisms behind self-control and how early ability to delay gratification might influence long-term life outcomes. What he and his colleagues discovered would spark decades of research, debate, and reevaluation of how willpower shapes our lives—from childhood well into adulthood.
The Original Experiment
The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, led by psychologist Walter Mischel at Stanford University’s Bing Nursery School. The methodology was elegantly simple: researchers would lead a child (typically around 4-5 years old) into a room with a table and chair. After establishing rapport, the researcher would place a treat of the child’s choice (often a marshmallow, but sometimes a cookie or pretzel) on the table.
The researcher would then present the child with a proposition: they could eat the treat immediately, or if they waited while the researcher left the room (typically for about 15 minutes), they would receive two treats when the researcher returned. The researcher would then leave the room, and a hidden camera would record the child’s behavior during the waiting period.
What made these recordings so compelling wasn’t just whether children ultimately gave in to temptation, but the fascinating variety of strategies they employed in their attempts to resist:
- Some children covered their eyes or turned away to avoid looking at the temptation
- Others kicked the table, pulled their hair, or physically distanced themselves from the treat
- Many created distractions by singing, talking to themselves, or playing with their hands and feet
- Some even tried to nap to make the waiting time pass more quickly
The children’s struggles were real and often dramatic. Some ate the marshmallow within seconds of the researcher leaving, while others managed to hold out for the full period to earn the second treat. But the most interesting findings were yet to come.
In later variations of the experiment, researchers discovered that children waited nearly three times longer when the treats were hidden from view, revealing how visual temptation significantly impacts self-control.
The Surprising Follow-Up Studies
What transformed this simple experiment from an interesting study on children’s self-control into one of psychology’s most famous tests were the follow-up studies conducted years later. As the marshmallow test children grew up, Mischel and his colleagues tracked their development through adolescence and into adulthood.
In 1990, when the original participants were in high school, researchers found startling correlations. Children who had waited longer for the second marshmallow showed:
- Higher SAT scores (on average, a difference of 210 points)
- Better academic performance
- Superior ability to concentrate and reason
- Greater social competence and self-assuredness
Later follow-ups in adulthood continued to show correlations with life outcomes. Those who had demonstrated greater self-control as children tended to have:
- Lower body mass index (BMI)
- Lower rates of substance abuse
- Better responses to stress
- Higher educational achievement
These findings captivated the public’s imagination and seemed to offer a simple explanation for life success: the ability to delay gratification, tested at just four years old, could predict significant life outcomes decades later. The marshmallow test quickly became a powerful metaphor for the importance of self-control and willpower.
Mischel himself described delayed gratification as the “master aptitude” underlying emotional intelligence, calling it “essential for constructing a fulfilling life.”
Modern Research and Reinterpretation
As with many landmark studies in psychology, recent years have brought reexamination and nuance to the marshmallow test’s findings. In 2018, researchers from New York University and the University of California, Irvine, attempted to replicate the original study with a much larger and more diverse sample of children.
This newer study found that while the ability to delay gratification did correlate with better outcomes later in life, the effect was only about half as strong as originally reported. Moreover, when researchers controlled for factors such as family background, home environment, and early cognitive ability, the predictive power of the marshmallow test was significantly reduced.
Several important factors emerged that complicated the original narrative:
- Socioeconomic background — Children from less advantaged backgrounds were less likely to delay gratification, possibly because they had learned that promised rewards don’t always materialize in unpredictable environments
- Trust — A 2012 study showed that if researchers broke a promise to a child before the test, the child was much less likely to wait for the second marshmallow
- Context matters — Self-control might be more situational than a fixed trait; children (and adults) might show great restraint in some areas but not others
- Development continues — Self-regulation skills can be taught and improved throughout childhood and even into adulthood
These findings don’t diminish the importance of self-control, but they do paint a more complex picture. Rather than being solely determined by innate willpower, our ability to delay gratification is influenced by our environment, experiences, and learned expectations about the world.
The Adult Marshmallow Test: Credit Cards and Instant Gratification
As the blog post introduction suggests, credit cards might indeed be the adult version of the marshmallow test. Modern life presents us with countless opportunities to choose between immediate gratification and delayed rewards, with financial decisions being perhaps the most consequential.
Consider these common financial “marshmallow tests” that adults face:
- Credit card spending — The temptation to purchase now and pay later, often with significant interest
- Retirement savings — Setting aside money today that you won’t touch for decades
- Home buying — Saving for a down payment versus renting or buying beyond your means
- Education — Investing time and money in training that will pay off over many years
Research suggests clear connections between delayed gratification and financial well-being. A 2023 study published in Current Psychology found that individuals with higher self-control were significantly less likely to accumulate debt, especially higher-interest consumer debt. Financial planners have even observed correlations between impulse control and credit card debt levels, noting that clients with better self-regulation tend to have more substantial retirement savings.
Yet our modern economy is increasingly designed to undermine self-control. One-click purchasing, same-day delivery, “buy now, pay later” options, and constant advertising create an environment where giving in to immediate desires has never been easier. The digital age has accelerated everything, making delayed gratification more challenging than ever.
The scarcity mindset that often comes with financial insecurity can make delayed gratification even harder. When resources are unreliable, the rational choice might be to take the marshmallow now rather than wait for an uncertain future reward.
Developing Self-Control Skills
The most encouraging aspect of modern marshmallow test research is the discovery that self-control is not a fixed trait but a skill that can be developed. Walter Mischel himself emphasized this point, noting that “the ability to delay gratification and resist temptation is eminently teachable.”
For children, several strategies have proven effective:
- Cognitive reframing — Teaching children to think differently about the temptation (such as imagining marshmallows as clouds rather than treats)
- Distraction techniques — Engaging in other activities to divert attention away from temptation
- Creating trustworthy environments — Ensuring promises are kept to build confidence that delayed rewards will materialize
- Goal-setting practice — Starting with short waiting periods and gradually extending them
Adults can benefit from similar approaches while adding more sophisticated strategies:
- Automating good decisions — Setting up automatic savings transfers or retirement contributions
- Creating commitment devices — Using tools that lock in future good behavior, like savings accounts with withdrawal penalties
- Environmental engineering — Restructuring your surroundings to remove temptations (unsubscribing from retail emails, using website blockers)
- Mindfulness practices — Developing awareness of impulses without automatically acting on them
Perhaps most importantly, we can build self-control by understanding our individual patterns and triggers. Different people face different “marshmallows” in life—some struggle with financial impulses, others with health choices, still others with time management. Identifying your particular challenges is the first step toward developing targeted strategies.
The Ever-Relevant Marshmallow
More than five decades after Walter Mischel’s original experiments, the marshmallow test continues to offer valuable insights into human behavior. While recent research has provided important nuance to the original findings—showing that environmental factors and socioeconomic context play crucial roles alongside individual willpower—the fundamental lesson remains powerful: the ability to delay gratification contributes significantly to success across many domains of life.
In our instant-gratification economy, where credit card debt has reached record highs and saving rates have declined, the marshmallow test may be more relevant than ever. Each day presents countless opportunities to choose between immediate pleasure and future benefit, whether in our spending habits, health decisions, career choices, or relationships.
The good news is that self-control can be developed at any age. By understanding the cognitive and emotional factors that influence our decisions, we can build skills that help us resist immediate temptations in favor of greater long-term rewards. And while perfect self-control isn’t necessary or even desirable—sometimes eating the marshmallow right away is the right choice!—developing a thoughtful relationship with delayed gratification can lead to greater financial security, better health, and more fulfilling lives.
As you reflect on the adorable children in the video struggling with their marshmallow dilemma, consider your own relationship with delayed gratification. What are your “marshmallows”—those temptations that test your willpower? And what strategies might help you wait for those second marshmallows that truly matter to you?
Join the Conversation
How do you handle your own “marshmallow tests” in daily life? Do you have particular strategies for delaying gratification when it comes to spending, saving, or other challenges? Share your experiences and techniques in the comments below!