Mischel W, Shoda Y, Peake P K
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Apr;54(4):687-96. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.54.4.687.
Delay of gratification, assessed in a series of experiments when the subjects were in preschool, was related to parental personality ratings obtained a decade later for 95 of these children in adolescence. Clear and consistent patterns of correlations between self-imposed delay time in preschool and later ratings were found for both sexes over this time span. Delay behavior predicted a set of cognitive and social competencies and stress tolerance consistent with experimental analyses of the process underlying effective delay in the preschool delay situation. Specifically, children who were able to wait longer at age 4 or 5 became adolescents whose parents rated them as more academically and socially competent, verbally fluent, rational, attentive, planful, and able to deal well with frustration and stress. Comparisons with related longitudinal research using other delay situations help to clarify the important features of the situations and person variables involved in different aspects of delay of gratification.
在一系列实验中，当受试者还在上幼儿园时，对其延迟满足能力进行了评估，结果发现，十年后这些孩子进入青春期时，延迟满足能力与对其中95名孩子的父母性格评分有关。在这段时间跨度内，男孩和女孩在幼儿园时自我设定的延迟时间与后来的评分之间都呈现出清晰且一致的相关模式。延迟行为预示着一系列认知和社交能力以及压力承受能力，这与对幼儿园延迟情境中有效延迟背后过程的实验分析结果一致。具体而言，4岁或5岁时能够等待更长时间的孩子，到了青春期，其父母对他们的评价是在学业和社交方面更有能力、语言更流利、更理性、更专注、更有计划性，并且能够更好地应对挫折和压力。与使用其他延迟情境的相关纵向研究进行比较，有助于阐明不同方面延迟满足所涉及的情境和个体变量的重要特征。
