A Developmental Study on Delay of Gratification

Two studies were conducted to investigate development of delay of gratification. In Study 1, the personal delay of gratification test, social delay of gratification inventory and personality inventory were administered to kindergarteners aged 3 to 6 years. The personal delay of gratification test included three reward pairs and subjects were instructed to choose between a less valuable reward which was immediately available and a more valuable reward which was available tomorrow. In the personality inventory, a teacher rated the kindergartener's social competencies and achievement behavior. The results were as follows: (1) effects of gender were observed for personal and social delay of gratification, (2) effects of age were observed only for girls in personal delay of gratification, (3) personal delay scores did not correlate with social delay scores, and (4) social delay of gratification displayed stronger relationships with social competencies and achievement behavior than personal delay of gratification. In Study 2, a hypothetical ‘waiting for at urn' situation was used, and kindergarteners aged 3 to 6 years participated. In this situation, subjects could either wait to play with a favorite toy, renounce waiting and immediately play with the less favorite toy or break the rules of waiting for a turn. The children were presented with two conditions: a position towards the front of the line and a position towards the back of the line. The personality inventory used in Study 1 was again administered. Results were as follows: (1) developmental changes of delay of gratification were observed in the two conditions, (2) the middle group was more flexible in changing behavior from waiting to renunciation than the younger group when position in line was towards the back, and (3) relationships between behavior patterns such as waiting, renunciation and transgression and personality traits were not observed