While there remains a degree of doubt over the precise validity of the famous marshmallow test, which suggested that children with higher self-control will have much better outcomes in life, the theory remains hugely popular among both academics and the general public alike.
For instance, a recent study from HEC Paris highlights the value of training children in various non-cognitive skills, such as self-control. The researchers tracked the lives of children from poor neighborhoods in Montreal over a 30-year period and found that early childhood intervention can yield a number of significant benefits.
Strong return on investment
Indeed, the researchers found that government investment in such interventions in 8-year-old children managed a return of $11 for every $1 spent by the time the child reaches 39 years of age. Central to this return was a distinct reduction in criminality, with the researchers finding a fall in social transfers of around 40%.
The intervention was also associated with a rise in various other positive outcomes, including in areas such as employment, education, and group membership. For instance, the researchers found employment income rose by 20% after the intervention.
“While the large positive impact on the life trajectories of at-risk children is itself sufficient to justify public support of prevention programs, we believe our study proves how these policies are also attractive from a strict efficiency perspective,” the researchers explain. “Investments in childhood yield reasonable returns for taxpayers in terms of reduced expenditure on schooling (special education and grade repetition), delinquent behavior, and social transfers.”
Cultural impact
Of course, such interventions aren’t a silver bullet for improving our willpower, as research from the University of Colorado at Boulder suggests that our cultural upbringing plays a big role in whether we’re willing to wait or not.
The researchers found that children in Japan were willing to wait around three times longer for food than they would for gifts. When children in the United States were tested, they would wait four times longer for gifts than for food.
“We found that the ability to delay gratification, which predicts many important life outcomes, is not just about variations in genes or brain development but also about habits supported by culture,” the researchers explain.
The findings suggest that parents should be able to develop good habits in young children that will support them later in life and allow them to delay gratification. They do, however, call into question previous social science research that suggested children lacked self-control, when in reality they may just have had different cultural values around waiting.
