Deferred Gratification -I-

"Deferred gratification or delayed gratification is the ability to wait in order to obtain something that one wants. This is known by many names, including impulse control, will power, and self control. In formal terms, and individual should calculate present value of future rewards and defer near-term rewards of lesser value. Research has shown that animals do not do this, so this problem is fundamental to human nature.

Conventional wisdom considered good impulse control to be personality trait important for life success. Daniel Goleman has suggested it is an important element of emotional intelligence. People who lack this trait are said to need instant gratification and may suffer from poor impulse control.

Almost everyone, every day, practices delay of gratification-whether deciding to skip dessert in order to lose weight or give up smoking in order to live longer. The ability to delay gratification is often a sign of emotional and social maturity. Young children, for example, find it more difficult to delay gratification than older children. When kindergartners in one study were offered a choice between getting a small candy bar immediately or a larger one later, 72% chose the smaller candy bar. This number decreased to 67% among first and second garders and 49% for third and fourth graders. By the fifth and sixth grades it had fallen to 38%, nearly half the rate for kindergartners" 

to be continued...