Delay of Gratification as Reputation Management

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Delay-of-gratification tasks are traditional measures of self-control.
• Recent research indicates rational decision-making influences performance on these tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if rational decision processes in children's delay-of-gratification tasks extend to reputational concerns.
• To examine the impact of anticipated consequences for a child's reputation on their waiting behavior.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted with 273 3- and 4-year-old children in China.
• Children were assigned to either a standard delay-of-gratification condition or a reputation condition.
• In the reputation condition, children were informed that a teacher or peer would observe their waiting behavior.

Main Results:

• Children waited longer in the reputation conditions compared to the standard condition.
• Children waited longer when they believed a teacher would evaluate their behavior than when a peer would.
• This study provides the first evidence of children's sensitivity to reputational concerns in delay-of-gratification tasks.

Conclusions:

• Children's delay-of-gratification behavior is influenced by social evaluation and reputational concerns.
• The identity of the evaluator (teacher vs. peer) affects children's waiting behavior.
• Reputational considerations play a significant role in children's self-control strategies.