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Californian Health Study to be Revisited After 40 Years
Professor Walter Mischel has announced that he is planning to revisit a study that he started during the 1960’s, which aimed to determine whether strong willed children would grow up to be more successful in later life. The purpose of the study, which was carried out at Stanford University, California, was to test his theory that children’s future academic success could be gauged by whether they could resist a short temptation in exchange for a greater reward promised at a later time. In the study children were offered a marshmallow, and observed to see whether or not the resisted temptation to eat it, knowing that if they did, they would not receive a greater prize later. Professor Mischel now plans to return to his subjects to see if they have become successful adults.
In addition to success, it would be extremely interesting to know if there is a connection between strong willpower concerning sweets at that age with levels of obesity and weight issues as adults. Hopefully Prof. Mischel would be willing to document this also.
The Marshmallow Experiment
Mischel pioneered work illuminating the ability to delay gratification and to exert self-control in the face of strong situational pressures and emotionally “hot” temptations. His studies with preschoolers in the late 1960s, often referred to as “the marshmallow experiment“, examined the processes and mental mechanisms that enable a young child to forego immediate gratification and to wait instead for a larger desired but delayed reward. Continuing research with these original participants has examined how preschool delay of gratification ability links to development over the life course, and may predict a variety of important outcomes, such as social and cognitive competence, educational attainment, and drug use, and can have significant protective effects against a variety of potential vulnerabilities. This work also opened a route to research on temporal discounting in decision-making, and most importantly into the mental mechanisms that enable cognitive and emotional self-control, thereby helping to demystify the concept of “willpower”.
This research may show relationships with long term health patterns and willpower. Many of today’s health problems are related to eating disorders and lack of exercise throughout childhood and into adult life. If there is a connection between the willpower of young children and their ability and desire to stay fit and healthy later in life, then there may be a case to target children from a younger age, to educate them about the importance of healthy eating and regular exercise, especially those that show signs of giving in to tempation easily.
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