Delaying gratification and the ability to resist impulses.

Children are especially prone to let themselves be carried away by their desires without delaying them.

Let's imagine we are children and we are presented with a candy or sweets, we are told how good it is and that we can eat it if we want to. However, the person who offers it to us tells us that he has to go out for a moment, and that if we have not eaten it when he comes back, he will give us another one in addition to the one already present. When the person leaves the room, we still have the candy in question in front of us.

What do we do: eat it now or wait and get a bigger reward later? This situation is what Walter Mischel used to observe the capacity for delayed gratification in children. in children. In this article we will delve more deeply into this important concept that goes a long way in explaining many of our abilities and behaviors.

Delay of gratification: what is it?

The term delay of gratification refers to the capacity of the human being to inhibit its behavior and its and their current cravings in order to obtain a greater or more desirable advantage or benefit in the future. It is clearly linked to motivation and goal setting.

Despite the fact that the experiment referred to in the introduction may seem an unimportant concept, the truth is that it has great relevance in our lives. The ability to delay gratification allows us to control our basic impulses and adjust our behavior to our goals and expectations. In fact, one of the characteristics of human beings is that we can put off experiencing pleasure in order to achieve more important goals that must be developed in the medium and long term. Without going any further, complying with the law and being able to live in society would be impossible if we are constantly giving in to our impulses.

Thus, it has been observed that the ability to delay gratification correlates positively with better academic, work and social performance, higher perceived self-efficacy and self-esteem and in general a better adaptation to the environment, increasing our competence, self-esteem and self-efficacy. It allows us to manage ourselves and cope with crisis situations.It allows us to evaluate the pros and cons of executing an action and its consequences before doing it, to face uncertainty and frustration, and to establish and follow plans.

Aspects that affect this capacity

The delay of gratification depends on the individual's self-controlThe individual's ability to manage his or her cognitive and emotional resources.

Variables such as the amount of delay in obtaining the jackpot, the value given to each of the reinforcers, the state of need or deprivation of the subject (if you are offered 1000 euros today or 10000 in three months, you may take the first one if you need the money tomorrow) or the possibility of physically or mentally moving away from the reinforcer present from the beginning are very relevant in explaining whether or not the subject is able to wait. The same can be said of whether obtaining results after waiting is reliable or only a possibility.

It should also be taken into account that delay of gratification does not occur only in response to physical stimuli.This delay also appears in cognitive, emotional and behavioral elements (for example, not to explode with someone who has angered us so as not to damage the relationship or to manage the situation correctly).

It should also be taken into account that a subject will not always want to delay gratification, without having a lower capacity for delay than those who do decide to wait. For example, the result of waiting may not be appetitive for the subject, or the immediate reward may be sufficiently satisfactory (if one treat satisfies my hunger, why would I want two?)

Or on the contrary, a subject may wait because the initial stimulus is not sufficiently appetitive on its own if it is not accompanied on its own if it is not accompanied by more (it is not the same to be offered five cents as twenty euros). Therefore, when studying this phenomenon, it is necessary to take into account the different variables involved in order to determine whether the presence or absence of delay is due to the subject's ability to withstand and manage his or her impulses or to a lack of them.

At the brain level

If we think of delay of gratification at the neurological level, we must bear in mind that the existence of this capacity is linked to that of impulse control, decision-making capacity, motivation and the perception of pleasure and reward.

Thus, we will find that the frontal lobe plays an important role in whether or not there is delay of gratification: both behavioral inhibition and decision making are linked to the dorsolateral prefrontal, being executive functions mediated by it. In fact, individuals with prefrontal lesions tend to have a lower capacity for delay of gratification because they they show less behavioral inhibition.

Likewise, a link has also been found between this capacity and the brain reward system (especially important are the nucleus accumbens and the caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia and the limbic system), elements linked to the uptake of the reinforcing or inhibitory value of stimuli, emotion and motivation.

A trainable capacity

Self-control and the ability to delay gratification, although they exist both in humans and in other animals such as primates or some corvids, are not developed from the moment of birth. In fact, in the same experiment that opens the article, Mischel observed that as a general rule children under the age of four were not capable of delaying satisfaction-seeking..

This is due, among other things, to the lack of development of their frontal lobe, which does not reach its maximum level of development until adulthood. It should be noted, however, that like many other developmental psychological traits, the simple passage of time does not cause the ability to delay gratification to emerge out of nowhere; a level of psychological stimulation must be maintained in order to train this (something similar to what happens with language, for example).

Thus, although there is a certain innate component, it has been observed that this is an ability that can be trained. For example, techniques can be taught to distract attention from the desired stimulus and postpone its acquisition, to move away from the stimulation itself or to assess the advantages and disadvantages before acting. Modeling can also be useful.

Educational practices and various therapeutic programs can lead to children and adults with self-control problems (e.g., a hyperactive or behaviorally impaired child or a substance addict) being better able to achieve delayed gratification. The use of metaphors, self-instructions and imaginative exposure can also be helpful.