Optimists are more wiling to delay gratification because they expect success
In response to failure, optimists believe they can succeed the next time by changing the approach, while pessimists use it to confirm negative expectations. This is an equally apt description of the preschool kids who delayed gratification in the Marshmallow Test. Seconds of waiting time not only measure their delay ability; how long they waited also tells us how much grit the children have, or how persistent they are as the frustration of the delay and the effort needed to stick with it keep escalating. Because optimists have higher overall expectations of success, they are more willing to delay gratification, even when it is difficult to do so. Unless children expect to succeed and get those marshmallows later, when the experimenter comes back, there is no reason for them to try to wait or work for them; those who don’t (or who don’t trust the experimenter) take the immediately available smaller rewards by ringing the bell.
References
- Mischel, Walter. (2014). The Marshmallow Test Chapter 8 The Engine of Success I Think I Can (Epub p. 120) New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
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