LIFESTYLE - SUMMER 2017

PARENTING RENOWNED psychologistWalter Mischel, inventor of the ‘MarshmallowTest’, is a leading authority on the nature of human willpower. 50 years ago Dr Mischel’s iconic experiment was simple – a child was presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: Eat this one now, or wait and enjoy two later. Today his latest research is published in a brand new book ‘The MarshmallowTest: Mastering Self-Control.’ Dr Mischel claims the marshmallow test can help you ascertain if in his or her later years your child will be more likely to be able to quit smoking, stick to a diet or save for retirement... T by Sarah Rigg he psychology professor’s research began with the simple study of four and five-year-olds that challenged themwith the tough dilemma. Amarshmallow that they could have immediately, and a larger reward (two marshmallows), for which they would have to wait, alone, for up to 20 minutes. Next to the treats was a desk bell the children could ring at any time to call back the researcher and eat the one marshmallow. Or they could wait for the researcher to return, and if they hadn’t le their chair or started to eat the marshmallow, they could have both. What the children did as they managed or didn’t manage to delay gratification turned out to predict much about their future lives. The more seconds they waited at age four or five, the higher their SAT scores and the beer their rated social and cognitive functioning in adolescence. At age 27 – 32, those same children who had waited longer during the MarshmallowTest in preschool had a lower body mass index and a beer sense of self-worth, pursued their goals more effectively and coped more adaptively with frustration and stress. At midlife, those who could consistently wait (“high delay”) versus those who couldn’t (“low delay”), were characterised by distinctively different brain scans in areas linked to addictions and obesity. The core of the research seems to centre on ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ reactions in the brain and using distraction strategies to “cool down” impulses. Dr Mischel talks about the importance of keeping stress low during pregnancy and in the infant’s first few years. His studies show how exposure to extreme and prolonged stress in

Can we teach our children willpower?

early life can be damaging in later life, noting that stress levels in babies measured higher in the brain when they were sleeping if angry voices were within earshot. The ability to delay gratification and resist temptations has been a fundamental challenge since the dawn of civilisation. It is central to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve’s temptation in the Garden of Eden. The ability to delay gratification is critical to living a successful and fulfilling life – and this is the core conclusion of Dr Mischel’s research. His studies found self-control not only predicts higher marks in school, beer social and cognitive skills, and a greater sense of self-worth; it also helps us manage stress, pursue goals and cope with painful emotions. Most important for its educational and child-rearing implications – Dr Mischel says willpower can be taught and modified in childhood and later in life. “The most important thing we learned is that self-control – and the ability to regulate one’s own emotions – involves a set of skills that can be taught, and learned,” he says. “They’re acquirable. Nothing is predetermined. What’s more,” he says, “these experiments provide concrete lessons about self-control we can use as adults.” He argues that the same strategies a five-year-old uses to avoid eating the marshmallow can help you quit smoking or stick to a diet. Life with too much self-control can be as unfulfilling as one with too lile. It is knowing when it is time to ring the bell and enjoy the marshmallow.”

Self-control involves a set of skills that can be taught and learned

Main picture and inset left: Children...can they

master self control? Far left: Dr. Mischel

Left: Dr. Mischel’s book ‘The Marshmallow Test.’

Photographs of children for illustration purposes only. Courtesy of Adventurers Village, Gulliver’s Resort, Milton Keynes.

6 6 L I F E : STY L E SUMME R 2 0 1 7

L I F E : STY L E SUMME R 2 0 1 7 6 7