Delay of Gratification: Some Longitudinal Personality Correlates

Two brief laboratory tasks measuring delay of gratification in different ways were administered to 116 four-year-old children. Personality data were available on these children separately at ages 3, 4, 7, and 11 years in the form of California Child Q-Set ratings by independent sets of teachers and examiners. The two delayof-gratification measures were standard scored and composited to generate a more broadly based index of delay of gratification, and this index was correlated with the personality ratings available at the four ages. Boys who delayed gratification tended to be independently and consistently described as deliberative, attentive and able to concentrate, reasonable, reserved, cooperative, and generally manifesting an ability to modulate motivational and emotional impulse. Boys who did not delay gratification, by contrast, were irritable, restless and fidgety, aggressive, and generally not self-controlled. Xjirls who delayed gratification were independently and consistently described as intelligent, resourceful, and competent. Girls who did not delay tended to go to pieces under stress, to be victimized by other children, and to be easily offended, sulky, and whiny. These findings were interpreted in terms of the constructs of ego control and ego resiliency and the differential socialization of the sexes.