What Doctors Don't Know About Marshmallows And Happiness

How long would you last resisting the marshmallow? That is the question asked in the "kid torture" video, a recreation of the study done in the 1960s at Stanford analyzing behavior, willpower, and success. Kids were sat down in a room, presented with a marshmallow, and told they could eat the marshmallow now or wait while the researcher left the room for an undetermined amount of time. If they could wait they would be awarded a second marshmallow when the researcher came back.

In line with most studies that analyze pieces and miss the whole, this study is incomplete. There is a bias in the conclusion, based on a fundamental misconception of what's best for us. When I first saw this video I didn't like use of food as a behavior request. Good way to grind in an unhealthy relationship with food for our kids, with the pendulum swing from denial to mindless stuffing already in the making. And why is two marshmallows better than one anyway? This super-sizing idea that has been loaded on us is at the heart of why America is so unhealthy today.

When I read Jonah Lehrer's article in the New Yorker detailing the study, my unsettled feelings about food torture took a turn to questions of success and happiness, and a confirmed a suspicion that many studies are useless and should be given less attention. Every time a study comes out announcing "yoga is good for you now," have we really learned anything new? Michael Pollan outlines a history of the consumer getting taken for a ride through an endless succession of contradicting studies, while big corporations gain more power and people become more unhealthy and contract deadly diseases. Just because the study says so doesn't make it true. There is more to a carrot than the sum of its parts.

The marshmallow study shows that kids who were able to wait longer for a second marshmallow had more success in life. Kids who followed directions, resisted temptation, and held out for bigger and better supposedly did better in life too. One little girl shown in the video ate her marshmallow right away before the researcher even told her the directions. Now that's living in the moment. She saw, she wanted, and she munched. Other kids in the video became stressed out and tense while they waited. At the end of the video the researcher gave a little boy who waited two marshmallows as his reward. He shoved them both in his mouth at the same time. Great lesson in deferred life planning. Was the reward worth the stress?

Lehrer's article follows little Carolyn and her older brother Craig. The scientists would not release any information about the subjects but Carolyn strongly suspects she would have held out. Her older brother Craig, on the other hand remembers being tested.

"At a certain point, it must have occurred to me that I was all by myself," he recalls. "And so I just started taking all the candy." According to Craig, he was also tested with little plastic toys, where he could have a second one if he held out. Instead he broke into the desk containing the additional toys. "I took everything I could," he says. "I cleaned them out. After that, I noticed the teachers encouraged me to not go into the experiment room anymore."

Carolyn went to Stanford undergrad, got her Ph.D. in social psychology at Princeton, and now she is an associate psychology professor at the University of Puget Sound. Craig moved to LA and did "all kinds of things" in the entertainment industry, mostly in production. He's currently helping to write and produce a film.

What does success have to do with resistance, or with living in the moment? The researchers chose career as their measure of success, but maybe they picked the wrong measure - an error that can lead to all kinds of bad conclusions. Just looking at the conflict in these kids as they're instructed to resist their instincts, it's not hard to see how values and methods of teaching can create difficulties later in life. You may get well-disciplined adults capable of following direction, manning desks, and achieving some success. Unfortunately you'll also too often get adults who feel disconnected from their intuition and dissatisfied with their own direction, however "successful" they may be.

So maybe the little girl who ate her marshmallow had no desire for another, thought the whole thing was silly and wanted to go play. Maybe she weighed the difference of having one now or two later and decided the more enjoyable experience would be to ignore the annoying research lady and eat her yummy marshmallow. And maybe she's still very happily doing her own thing today.

Is someone more likely to be happy if they have a Ph.D or work in production? Maybe Craig's film will be a huge hit. Maybe not. I wonder what a happiness test would come up with. Which sibling do you think would be in better physical, mental, and psychological shape? Who is more tightly wound, and who enjoys their life the most? I would hope both, but happiness isn't a competition, and probably can't be accurately measured in a study.

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

 

 

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Comments

[instagladiator]

Individuals' thoughts, feelings and behavior rests solely with the parents or guardians through show-and-tell. Commonly referred to as parenting.

But then, I guess that's old-fashioned thinking that no longer applies to your society?

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

No, it's not old-fashioned. Because not even our ancestors believed that.

[davism97]

This is why I choose to stick to things that are easier to understand. When you add people to the equation things get so so so complicated.

[BetterDays]

When this study was first discussed in Goleman's book, Emotional Intelligence, I had my son and three neighborhood boys sit down for 'marshmallows'. I gasped in shock as my son not only ate his marshmallow immediately but grabbed the marshmallows of his buddies and proceeded to eat theirs amongst their loud protests. Although the study predicted that he would be a felon by now, he is a polite, goal-oriented, intelligent young man with a bright future! Why I worried for so many years is beyond me.

[alaskan]

Yes, well I'm fairly certain no scientist would try this experiment with the kid's parent in the room, much less his peers. Your experiment wasn't even vaguely close to the original one.

[BetterDays]

I didn't claim to be a scientist. When you read the book, it discusses impulse control and delaying gratification. It was very clear that my son had neither of these at that time in his life but not simply from the marshmallow test. It was simply my story in relation to the study.

[alphabet99]

there are a type of marshmallows made without the use of pig products..­.can't remember the name, though.

[mjt96]

One mistake these scientists made is thinking that delaying marshmallow consumption so you can get another marshmallow is a sign of intelligent self control. In fact, it's often this type of self-tormenting control that leads to disconnection from trusting yourself, along with the denial + binge cycle common to overeating. Silly scientists. They should try some yoga.

[Happyexpat]

No way would I have eaten the marshmallow. I came from a very authoritarian Catholic home. On the other hand I now very happily live in the moment and while not a "success" in American terms (ie, tons of money, huge house, fame, etc.) I am quite content and manage to experience joy on a daily basis.

What test analysis forgot to factor in was years of therapy!

[Brix]

I always found the analysis of this test to be unimaginative.

The outcome was taken as an absolute measure of willpower over gratification. But I see that as simplistic.

The researchers never considered issues like trust, and willingness to allow another to control your circumstances. Even young children (in some ways, especially young children) are going to subject their researcher to some analysis of their trustworthiness and agenda. And to relate it to their own experiences in the consistency and dependability of authority figures in their lives.

Waiting for the marshmallow is not merely a pure exercise in willpower to delay gratification, it is also an exercise in trust. The children are relying on a stranger to follow through in an environment with many uncertainties to it. The stress that many of those children exhibited seemed to me to be an unlikely result of simply having to wait for a treat. It made more sense to me that they were conflicted between having to trust the stranger to follow through, and their ability to take immediate control of the situation to a known benefit.

The test results still make sense. For small children, parents are overwhelmingly dominant as an authority figure. And so children who are comfortable trusting the researcher are indicative of stable consistent parenting, which probably does bode well for their chances to be successful. But in understanding the individuals and their reactions, it turns the test into something completely different.

[pbziegler]

Think this author missed the point. A latter study done by Bandura showed that when children who had a hard time delaying gratification (ate the marshmallow right away) saw a adult using strategies to deflect attention away from the marshmallow they learned immediately skills that helped them delay gratification. The point of these studies was not to show that following rules gets you more but that (1) some people have a harder time delaying gratification, (2) people who are able to employ skills that help them delay gratification tend to do better in life in all sorts of ways--work, relationships, health, etc. and (3) people who tend to be more impulsive can learn effective ways to develop their delaying gratification muscles.
As a chronic overeater and mental health professional who specializes in working with chronic overeaters and weight management I see this research in a very different light that the woman who wrote this piece.

[mjt96]

I see your point. Patterns of mindless, instant gratification can lead to overeating. But the key here is mindlessness rather than mindfulness. Following one's desires can also be mindful, as the author suggests.

When it comes to overeating, tormented self-restraint may limit consumption in the short term, but often gives way to even more substantial overeating when attention lapses. It's kind of like focusing on the rock at the side of the road while driving. With all that directed focus, it's difficult not to hit the rock. Yoga is a great help in developing the kind of sustained awareness and attention to what your body needs, so that restraint is no longer the fixation.

[pbziegler]

MJT--can't argue with what you say about tormented self-restraint but the middle path between impulsive and compulsive behavior and tormented self-restraint might be called reasonable or gentle restraint. For chronic overeaters there is this middle ground that has to be cultivated and practiced. Just like in yoga you can push too hard and injure yourself or you can avoid the point where the pose begins to make a difference--that sweet spot in all things. Following one's desires when one is chronically overeating and obese doesn't seem to me great advice. Reconnecting with one's body wisdom is one thing, eating whatever appeals to you whenever you get an urge to eat is quite another.

[thedave108]

Marshmallows are great - as long as you don't think about the fact that they're made from ground up cow and horse hooves. (So is Jell-o BTW)

[Happyexpat]

Yaaaaarrrr­rrrrrggggg­gggggggggh­hhhhhhhhhh­hhhhh!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!

[Jamie Roxx]

Love it!!!! I eat Jello everyday, and I love it, even knowing what it's made out of. I am the T-Rex of this era. Top of the food chain baby! Marshmallows are good too

[NoSillyName]

Eww. I paused at the Jello section of the grocery store the other day. Hadn't had Jello in decades... probably when i was in the hospital. Thought about getting a box of Lime, then thought again, remembering where gelatin comes from, and walked away.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Gorgeous Tara -

When I was a kid toasting marshmallows around a campfire = happiness +

it still has a ring

Deb an I eat healthy (most of the time)

but

a little health food sin goes a long way

In Joy,

Ed

[feyangel]

I found the comments on this the most entertaining part of the article. AND, that said, I actually think the topics of "motivation," "discipline," "what is success"-- etc-- everything embraced by this seemingly silly study are way more complex than suggested by the way they interpreted this study. And I think there may have been other factors at play, like sugar addiction. . . or simply not liking the weird texture of marshmellows,. . . or authority issues (which someone else hinted at). . . or life experience that created a perverse "eat now for tomorrow you may die or lose access to all food/benef­its/resour­ces" attitude (The person who commented about the guy raised in a family of seven kids pointed to this. For me, I was put in an orphanage at four years old and all my personal belongings disappeared as did spontaneous access to food-- which might have caused some anxiety about having a second marshmellow actually show up). Kids with parents who lied to them a lot or broke promises may have had other (trust) issues running. Too many variables for this study to be assumed accurate.

[EuroRant1]

This video spread through our office like wildfire ... we even discussed it on-the-air (I work in radio broadcasting here in Europe).

Most thought it was a cute and an interesting experiment ... but strangely, the conclusion here is that Americans are still not put off by what full untethered unchecked of what greed will lead to and the recession has obviously taught the Americans NOTHING.

Don't believe me ... check out the latest findings about Wall Street: They have learned nothing, after the bailouts ... it is business as usual. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125007909275825709.html#mod=rss_Politics_And_Policy

Strangely, what most saw in the experiment of those children that succeeded: "Greed is good." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7upG01-XWbY

[arabianway]

I don't think delayed gratification for one marshmallow can be construed to mean greed. Maybe if they were promised a whole bag.......­.......als­o, it is quite a stretch to compare small children with a sweet to the conclusion you state that the recession has taught Americans nothing. Anti-American sentiment much?

[wietog]

Studies like these are so misleading. Here are some factors not mentioned:

1) How treats are managed in their households.
2) Whether or not they had a sweet tooth.
3) IF they liked marshmallows at all!
4) How "under the thumb" they were/what the disciplinary systems were like in their homes.
5) Whether or not they were hungry!

PS: Marshmallows are a really good example of what America is: a seemingly innocuous bloated sweet softie made up of toxic bleached sugar, gristle and bone (gelatin is made from animal hooves). YUMMY!!!

[x76]

Shh... studies like this keep PhDs off the streets... that's a good thing...

[marika]

I posted this comment on the first Marshmallow article, mis-spelling marshmallow.

The offer was not something better after the waiting period. It was more of the same. Two marshmellows instead of one. Did the children feel pressure to wait? How did they feel about being left alone with the marshmellow?
You could also say the little boy decided to wait because he is a glutton, unsatisfied with one marshmellow.
Did the little girl lack will power or did she decide that one marshmellow was enough ,so eat it and go do something else.
We don't know why each child chose to do what it did.

After thinking about this a bit more I wonder if the greed we see everywhere is not a reaction to giving up too many present pleasures so that when you get to the top you can stuff on everything or just hoard for pleasure.. The reason for "wanting" is no longer internal just as the idea of the return of the researcher with the marshmallow seems to take over that adorable little boy's being. I suffered for him. The proof that we saw pure stress.was watching him stuff those marshmallows in his mouth like tranquillizing tablets.



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/18/marshmallow-test-video-a_n_291086.html

[PhilipB]

Well, what a thoughtful commentary on delayed gratification, living in the moment and success!
So many interesting ideas ideas to consider, and you smash assumptions that reveal inherent bias in any psychological study.
How curious and thought provoking that psychological studies of behavior may not only reveal attitudes by the participants, but by the researcher as well.
Certainly, cultural and familial dynamics must not be dismissed.
We knew someone who was quite predatory in the work environment. It turned out he was one of seven children in his family, and he confided that he would take his bean bag chair with him wherever he went at home so that none of his siblings would take it. This bean bag mentality continued in his adult life, where he felt he never had enough, and has to jealously fight for his turf.
This person did achieve some success up to a point; management rewarded him for a time, until his ct-throaght and insular attitude dramatically led to his downfall and disgrace.
Well, perhaps he should have had as many marshmallos as he wanted , and then he could have either learned to savor just one, or become sick of them and gone off in another direction, free of marshmallows.
All interesting to consider and the wider ideas on human gratifacation and living a healthy life.