Think You Can Pass the Marshmallow Test
The answer to this question may depend on your generation.
I recently read an article that said I was not a Millenial, as I had been originally designated, but that I was actually a Xennial. I oddly felt relief. Not to knock down Millenials, I used to be one of you, but the reputation that “those” people have is not exactly great. Which brings me to my point, what is this ongoing silent war happening between generations. I get it we all want to be “The Greatest Generation” we just all didn’t have Tom Brokaw to crown us with the title.
A good break down of all the generations can be found HERE.
Why can’t all the generations get along? Perhaps like this article tells us, we all have pros and cons
So what is Marshmallow Test? The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a series of studies on delayed gratification led by psychologist Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford University. In the study a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, a cookie or pretzel.) In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational achievement and even body mass index [insert eye roll].
What it means for you:
Generation Z (those born after 2001) is apparently way better at delaying gratification than Generation X (born 1965-1980). Which means all those Gen Xers making fun of Millenials- should probably stop calling the kettle black.
But speaking of Millenials, and not to stereotype here {what everyone says before a major steretype is thrown out}, Millenials are also terrible at this experiment. However there is a reason for it, and it’s not so bad. Apparently Millenials are saving less, indulging more and basically throwing away our future in order for a better today. Clearly- they canot wait to eat the marshmallow. But- it’s because they are adapting to the environment and learning from what hasn’t worked in the past. Check out this article HERE. But also Millenials- bad tippers.
Also- after all of this seems the original Marshmallow Test had a very serious flaw…. it didn’t take into consideration the child’s socioeconomic status. You can read that HERE. |
by Cristina |
Last Updated: July 9, 2018 
