Delaying Gratification And The Ability To Resist Impulses
Let’s imagine that we are children and they put a candy or a sweet in front of us, they tell us how good it is and that we can eat it if we want. However, the person who offers it to us tells us that he has to leave for a moment, and that if when he returns we have not eaten it, he will give us another one in addition to the one that is already present. When the person leaves the room, we still have the treat in question in front of us.
What do we do? Eat it now or wait and have a greater reward later? This situation is what Walter Mischel used to observe the ability to delay gratification In children. In this article we are going to delve deeper into this important concept that largely explains many of our capabilities and behaviors.
The term graphing delay refers to the ability of human beings to inhibit their behavior and their current desires in order to obtain a greater or more desirable advantage or benefit in the future. This is an element clearly linked to motivation and goal setting.
Although the experiment referred to in the introduction may seem like an unimportant concept, the truth is that it has great relevance in our lives. The ability to delay gratification allows us to control our basic impulses and adjust our behavior to our goals and expectations. In fact, one of the characteristics of the human being is that we can leave experiencing pleasure for later in order to achieve more important objectives that must be developed in the medium and long term. Without going any further, complying with the law and being able to live in society would be impossible if we are constantly giving in to our impulses.
Thus, it has been observed that the ability to delay gratification positively correlates with better academic, work and social performance, greater perceived self-efficacy and self-esteem and in general better adaptation to the environment, increasing our competence, self-esteem and self-efficacy. It allows us to manage ourselves and deal with crisis situations evaluate the pros and cons of carrying out an action and its consequences before doing it, deal with uncertainty and frustration and establish and follow plans.
Aspects that affect this capacity
Delay of gratification depends on the individual’s self-control the ability to manage their cognitive and emotional resources.
Variables such as the amount of delay in obtaining the biggest prize, the value given to each of the reinforcers, the state of need or deprivation of the subject (if they offer you 1,000 euros today or 10,000 in three months, you may take the first if you need the money tomorrow) or the possibility of physically or mentally moving away from the reinforced present from the beginning are very relevant when explaining whether or not the subject is capable of waiting. The same can be said about whether obtaining results after waiting is reliable or just a possibility.
It must also be taken into account that Delay of gratification does not occur only in the face of physical stimuli but this delay also appears in cognitive, emotional and behavioral elements (for example, not exploding with someone who has angered us so as not to harm the relationship or manage the situation correctly).
Likewise, it must be taken into account that a subject will not always want to delay gratification, without having a lesser capacity for delay than those who do decide to wait. For example, the result of waiting may not be appetizing for the subject, or the immediate reward may be sufficiently satisfying (if I already satisfy my hunger with one candy, why do I want two?).
Or on the contrary, a subject may wait because the initial stimulus is not sufficiently appetitive on its own if it is not accompanied by more (it is not the same to be offered five cents as twenty euros). That is why when studying this phenomenon we must take into account the various variables involved in order to be able to take into account whether the presence or absence of delay is due to the subject being able to endure and manage their impulses or good for lack of these.
At the brain level
If we think about delay of gratification at a neurological level, we must realize that the existence of this capacity is linked to impulse control, decision-making capacity, motivation, and the perception of pleasure and reward.
Thus, we are going to find that the frontal lobe has an important participation when it comes to whether or not there is a delay of gratification: both behavioral inhibition and decision making are linked to the dorsolateral prefrontal, being executive functions mediated by this . In fact, individuals with prefrontal lesions tend to have a lower ability to delay gratification because show less behavioral inhibition.
Likewise, a link has also been found between this capacity and the brain reward system (especially important are the nucleus accumbens and the caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia and the limbic system), elements linked to the capture of the reinforcing or inhibitory value of the stimuli, emotion and motivation.
A trainable ability
Self-control and the ability to delay gratification, although they exist in both humans and other animals such as primates or some corvids, are not developed from the moment of birth. In fact, in the same experiment that begins the article, Mischel observed that as a general rule children under four years old were not able to delay the search for satisfaction.
This is due among other things to the lack of development of their frontal lobe, which does not reach its maximum level of development until adulthood. Of course, we must keep in mind that like many other psychological traits of development, the simple passage of time does not cause the ability to delay gratification to emerge from nowhere; it is necessary to maintain a level of psychological stimulation to train this ability (Something similar to what happens with language, for example).
Thus, although there is a certain innate component, it has been observed that it is an ability that can be trained. For example, techniques can be taught to distract attention from the desired stimulus and postpone its acquisition, to move away from the stimulation itself or to assess the advantages and disadvantages before acting. Modeling can also be useful.
Educational practices and various therapeutic programs can make children and adults with self-control problems (for example, a hyperactive child or a child with behavioral problems or a substance addict) better able to achieve delay of gratification. The use of metaphors, self-instructions and exposure in imagination can also be useful.
