Delay of gratification: impulsive choices and problem behaviors in early and late adolescence.
High school students were offered a monetary incentive for participating in research. They were given a choice between a smaller fee immediately or a larger fee one week later. Compared to students who delayed gratification, those who chose the immediate fee showed more self-regulatory deficits. They showed greater involvement with cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana, had a poorer self-concept and underperformed academically. A replication study with middle-school students and different reward parameters yielded equivalent results. Younger adolescents who chose the immediate monetary incentive showed a similar pattern of problem behaviors as the high school students. The findings indicate that this simple choice-delay procedure yields an unobtrusive behavioral measure of self-regulation and offers a developmentally appropriate extension of the delay-of-gratification paradigm for use with older children and adolescents.
Wulfert
Edelgard
E
Department of Psychology, The University at Albany, State University of New York, 12222, USA. e.wulfert@albany.edu
Block
Jennifer A
JA
Santa Ana
Elizabeth
E
Rodriguez
Monica L
ML
Colsman
Melissa
M
D000293:Adolescent; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010552:Personality Assessment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D014040:Token Economy