- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Rich Kids Fair Better at the Marshmallow Test Says Study Led By Tyler Watts
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:03 am
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:03 am
Why Rich Kids Are So Good at the Marshmallow Test: Affluence—not willpower—seems to be what’s behind some kids' capacity to delay gratification.
quote:
The marshmallow test is one of the most famous pieces of social-science research: Put a marshmallow in front of a child, tell her that she can have a second one if she can go 15 minutes without eating the first one, and then leave the room. Whether she’s patient enough to double her payout is supposedly indicative of a willpower that will pay dividends down the line, at school and eventually at work. Passing the test is, to many, a promising signal of future success.
But a new study, published last week, has cast the whole concept into doubt. The researchers—NYU’s Tyler Watts and UC Irvine’s Greg Duncan and Hoanan Quan—restaged the classic marshmallow test, which was developed by the Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel in the 1960s.
quote:
Ultimately, the new study finds limited support for the idea that being able to delay gratification leads to better outcomes. Instead, it suggests that the capacity to hold out for a second marshmallow is shaped in large part by a child’s social and economic background—and, in turn, that that background, not the ability to delay gratification, is what’s behind kids’ long-term success.
quote:
The failed replication of the marshmallow test does more than just debunk the earlier notion; it suggests other possible explanations for why poorer kids would be less motivated to wait for that second marshmallow. For them, daily life holds fewer guarantees: There might be food in the pantry today, but there might not be tomorrow, so there is a risk that comes with waiting.
quote:
Similarly, in my own research with Brea Perry, a sociologist (and colleague of mine) at Indiana University, we found that low-income parents are more likely than more-affluent parents to give in to their kids’ requests for sweet treats.
quote:
Hair dye and sweet treats might seem frivolous, but purchases like these are often the only indulgences poor families can afford.
This post was edited on 6/3/18 at 8:04 am
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:09 am to StringedInstruments
This carries over to the office when a rep brings in lunch. The stampede to be first in line rivals the African plains.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:09 am to StringedInstruments
this is funny b/c i read a similar article on this new study and it just said that the original couldn't be replicated when you controlled for the socioeconomic factors
which this article does say
but then spins into your OP
the author is basically arguing about the scarcity mindset
but i don't think that was the actual academic conclusion
ok i should have read ahead
DEFINITELY making a "scarcity mindset" argument
which this article does say
quote:
Similarly, among kids whose mothers did not have college degrees, those who waited did no better than those who gave in to temptation, once other factors like household income and the child’s home environment at age 3 (evaluated according to a standard research measure that notes, for instance, the number of books that researchers observed in the home and how responsive mothers were to their children in the researchers’ presence) were taken into account.
but then spins into your OP
quote:
For those kids, self-control alone couldn’t overcome economic and social disadvantages.
the author is basically arguing about the scarcity mindset
quote:
The failed replication of the marshmallow test does more than just debunk the earlier notion; it suggests other possible explanations for why poorer kids would be less motivated to wait for that second marshmallow. For them, daily life holds fewer guarantees: There might be food in the pantry today, but there might not be tomorrow, so there is a risk that comes with waiting. And even if their parents promise to buy more of a certain food, sometimes that promise gets broken out of financial necessity.
Meanwhile, for kids who come from households headed by parents who are better educated and earn more money, it’s typically easier to delay gratification: Experience tends to tell them that adults have the resources and financial stability to keep the pantry well stocked. And even if these children don’t delay gratification, they can trust that things will all work out in the end—that even if they don’t get the second marshmallow, they can probably count on their parents to take them out for ice cream instead.
but i don't think that was the actual academic conclusion
ok i should have read ahead
quote:
The Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan and the Princeton behavioral scientist Eldar Shafir wrote a book in 2013, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, that detailed how poverty can lead people to opt for short-term rather than long-term rewards; the state of not having enough can change the way people think about what’s available now. In other words, a second marshmallow seems irrelevant when a child has reason to believe that the first one might vanish.
DEFINITELY making a "scarcity mindset" argument
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:10 am to StringedInstruments
But I bet most intelligent people are among the wealthier.
Just a hunch...
Just a hunch...
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:17 am to StringedInstruments
In other words, the test worked but they looked for SJW excuses as to why kids failed it to fit their agenda. What a surprise.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:17 am to RogerTheShrubber
It’s almost like intelligence has some sort of genetic factor...
But that would mean...
But that would mean...
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:20 am to WylieTiger
quote:
This carries over to the office when a rep brings in lunch. The stampede to be first in line rivals the African plains.
You too, huh? I usually wait until 30 mins after the food has arrived to go in, fix a plate, and talk to the rep. It's a small room to begin with but you'd think the rep was bringing in suitcases full of cash to whomever is first in line.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:20 am to RogerTheShrubber
even if the assertions made by the author are true, it's basically impossible to fix, especially if we can't criticize poor people directly for this sort of bad decision making. the bigger issue is the chicken/egg issue. the ability to plan ahead allows you to avoid the scarcity mindset by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, which allows people to avoid poverty.
the 7 habits of highly effective people addresses this very well
From the Scarcity Mindset to the Abundance Mindset
seeing life in the long term and learning to tailor your decision making to make the best decisions now every time is how you develop in life
the 7 habits of highly effective people addresses this very well
From the Scarcity Mindset to the Abundance Mindset
quote:
Typically, the abundance mentality focuses on the long term. It involves a deep understanding that just because you don’t get to have something right now does not mean you won’t be able to have it later. Skipping a party right now doesn’t mean you will never be able to have a good time again. Someone else getting a raise does not mean you will never get a raise.
It also tends to create positive feelings towards others. If you feel as though someone else’s perk is not taking away from anything you have in your life or anything you may yet receive, it becomes much, much easier to feel happy for that person. Another person getting a raise or finding a nice relationship is not a source of jealousy or internal pain – it’s a source of genuine happiness for that person, because you know that person’s perk does not take anything away from you.
Obviously, personal finance is much easier if you have an abundance mindset. You don’t feel the need to spend money as soon as you get it because you know there will always be more of it. You become less paranoid about taxes, less afraid to invest.
seeing life in the long term and learning to tailor your decision making to make the best decisions now every time is how you develop in life
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:20 am to RogerTheShrubber
quote:
But I bet most intelligent people are among the wealthier.
Just a hunch...
Which could lead to an interesting spin-off research question.
Wealth is often built through delayed gratification (investing small amounts of money for a modest return over decades; achieving little things in high school, college, and maybe graduate school to earn a respectable degree; starting at an entry-level position and working hard every day to earn promotions to higher paying positions). If poor kids are being raised to have a scarcity mindset, they'll never be able to have the patience and self-control to work their way out of poverty. However, if a poor kid was an outlier for intelligence, would he or she have the instinct to delay their gratification for the marshmallow?
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:22 am to StringedInstruments
I think it’s also a learned trait the affluent children pick up from their parents
Intelligence and the ability to delay gratification are two of the best indicators of success
If these kids are affluent then their parents are likely some combination of the two factors and the kids have likely learned delayed gratification it from their parents.
Whereas the poorer children are raised by parents who themselves are not able to delay gratification so they never learn it either.
Intelligence and the ability to delay gratification are two of the best indicators of success
If these kids are affluent then their parents are likely some combination of the two factors and the kids have likely learned delayed gratification it from their parents.
Whereas the poorer children are raised by parents who themselves are not able to delay gratification so they never learn it either.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:25 am to StringedInstruments
I thought this was about the Chubby Bunny game.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:27 am to Ash Williams
Used to be, poor kids were trained to conserve. I suppose this isn't the case any more.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 8:58 am to StringedInstruments
quote:
The researchers—NYU’s Tyler Watts
Guy's come a long way from his days with Mike Dubose in Tuscaloosa.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 9:01 am to StringedInstruments
Rich people are smart, poor people are stupid
Especially in 2018
Especially in 2018
Posted on 6/3/18 at 9:10 am to StringedInstruments
They should replicate this with adults and use lortab as the temptation. That would be a fun one to watch.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 9:22 am to Fun Bunch
quote:
In other words, the test worked but they looked for SJW excuses as to why kids failed it to fit their agenda. What a surprise.
In the macro-socioeconomic field, subset research with statistical maleo-aggregated via the Kangz-Jackson-Lee theorem, your conclusion is considered as a BOOM!!!
Posted on 6/3/18 at 9:31 am to StringedInstruments
So, rich people stay rich and poor people stay poor. Groundbreaking science.
Their reason for having willpower is not as important as what it reflects.
Their reason for having willpower is not as important as what it reflects.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 9:59 am to RogerTheShrubber
Everything else being even, I would posit that more intelligent people tend to be wealthier than less intelligent people. I would also bet that more intelligent people tend to be better parents and to have stable two parent households than less intelligent people. I would also wager that children raised by good parents in stable two parent households do better on this (or any) test than a child raised by shite parents. So maybe the test is less an indicator of eating a marshmallow or planning for the future and more just a test of whether you are dealing with a disciplined child or a little shite who gobbles something in front of him instead of listening to the researcher at all.
Posted on 6/3/18 at 10:14 am to StringedInstruments
What if you just don't like marshmallows?
Posted on 6/3/18 at 10:34 am to jbgleason
quote:
I would posit that more intelligent people tend to be wealthier than less intelligent people
Beyond being wealthier, I would suggest those who aren't are far more likely to conserve than the modern version of a poor person.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News