Using Marshmallows to Increase Employee Productivity

Walter Mischel’s 1960's Marshmallow Study is one of the best-known self-control studies. Mischel took children, put them in a room by themselves, gave them a treat (a marshmallow), and the following deal: They could eat the treat right away, or wait 15 minutes until the experimenter returned. If they waited, they would get an extra marshmallow. Tracking the kids over many years, Mischel found that the ability to hold out in this seemingly trivial exercise had real and profound consequences. As they matured and became adults, the kids who had shown the ability to wait got better grades, were healthier, enjoyed greater professional success, and proved better at staying in relationships—even decades after they took the test.

In a new study (PDF), Celeste Kidd, found evidence that, in addition to self-control, children’s wait-times are regulated by rational decision-making process that considers environmental reliability. Kidd’s own version of the Marshmallow Study was designed to test the effect of trust; being either unreliable or reliable. In the first part of the study, the researchers handed over a piece of paper and a jar of used crayons, then told a child to either use those crayons or wait for a better set of art supplies. For half the kids, the experimenter kept the bargain, returning with a loaded tray of markers, crayons, and colored pencils. For the other half, the experimenter returned a few minutes later to say, apologetically, that there weren't in fact any better art supplies.