Delay of gratification: Some longitudinal personality correlates.

Two brief laboratory tasks measuring delay of gratification in different ways were administered to 116 4-yr-old children. Personality data were available on these children separately at ages 3, 4, 7, and 11 yrs in the form of California Child Q-Set ratings by independent sets of teachers and examiners. The 2 delay-of-gratification measures were used to generate a more broadly based index of delay of gratification, and this index was correlated with the personality ratings available at the 4 ages. Boys who delayed gratification tended to be described as deliberative, attentive, reasonable, reserved, cooperative, and able to modulate motivational and emotional impulse. Boys who did not delay gratification, by contrast, were irritable, restless, aggressive, and generally not self-controlled. Girls who delayed gratification were consistently described as intelligent, resourceful, and competent. Girls who did not delay tended to go to pieces under stress; to be victimized by other children; and to be easily offended, sulky, and whiny. Findings are interpreted in terms of the constructs of ego control and ego resiliency and the differential socialization of the sexes. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)