Will your Child be an Impulse Spender?

This Marshmallow Experiment will help determine some traits in your child: will power, self-control, delayed gratification and even impulse spending. Check out the videos and perhaps put your child to the test...

Read and test your child if they posses impulsive buying traits

The Marshmallow Experiment conducted in 1970s at Stanford University by Psychologist Walter Mischel has had a significant impact on what we know about delayed gratification today. Children were placed in a room with hidden cameras, told not to eat the marshmallow in front of them and, if they waited for the adult to return after 15 minutes or so, they would be rewarded with two marshmallows.

Longitudinal studies tracked the same children through high school. Researchers found that the children who waited for the marshmallow, did much better than their peers, right from their ability to cope well with problems all the way to higher academic scores.

We investigated the topic of delayed gratification and found that impulse spending was one instance of continuous spending habits. Not being able to control one’s spending habits at the point of purchase leads to an opportunity cost of saving and cultivating that very habit of saving.

How often do we fall into the trap of simply saying “okay” to a purchase without thinking twice about what we are holding in our hands is a need or a want?

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Written by

Sandra Ong

self-controlimpulse spendingThe Marshmallow Experimentdiscipline tips