The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control

by Walter Mischel

Overview

Renowned psychologist Walter Mischel, designer of the famous Marshmallow Test, explains what self-control is and how to master it.

A child is presented with a marshmallow and given a choice: Eat this one now, or wait and enjoy two later. What will she do? And what are the implications for her behavior later in life?

The world's leading expert on self-control, Walter Mischel has proven that the ability to delay gratification is critical for a successful life, predicting higher SAT scores, better social and cognitive functioning, a healthier lifestyle and a greater sense of self-worth. But is willpower prewired, or can it be taught?

In The Marshmallow Test, Mischel explains how self-control can be mastered and applied to challenges in everyday life -- from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way you think about who we are and what we can be.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316230858
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	313
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Walter Mischel holds the Robert Johnston Niven chair as professor of humane letters in psychology at Columbia University. He is the author of more than two hundred scientific papers as well as the coauthor of Introduction to Personality, now in its eighth edition. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has won the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of APA and the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Part I Delay Ability: Enabling Self-Control

1 In Stanford University's Surprise Room 13

2 How They Do It 28

3 Thinking Hot and Cool 43

4 The Roots of Self-Control 51

5 The Best-Laid Plans 61

6 Idle Grasshoppers and Busy Ants 70

7 Is It Prewired? The New Genetics 79

Part II From Marshmallows in Pre-K to Money in 401(k)

8 The Engine of Success: "I Think I Can!" 101

9 Your Future Self 123

10 Beyond the Here and Now 131

11 Protecting the Hurt Self: Self-Distancing 147

12 Cooling Painful Emotions 158

13 The Psychological Immune System 169

14 When Smart People Act Stupid 187

15 If-Then Signatures of Personality 195

16 The Paralyzed Will 206

17 Will Fatigue 215

Part III From Lab to Life

18 Marshmallows and Public Policy 233

19 Applying Core Strategies 254

20 Human Nature 273

Acknowledgments 281

Notes 283

Index 317

Editorial Reviews

As a Stanford professor, psychologist Walter Mischel constructed the classic "Marshmallow Test," an artfully simple test about self-control. In the original and in follow-up studies, he demonstrates that the ability to delay gratification, even when applied to relatively insignificant sweets, can be a predictor of better results in everything from tests to success, decision-making, self-worth, and cognitive functions. In this accessible book, Dr. Mischel explains how self-control is, in essential ways, within our control. It can be mastered and it can be applied to the almost innumerable decisions we need to make every day. An inviting breakthrough book with wide-ranging implications.

"The discoveries that grew out of the marshmallow studies add up to one of the most insightful research stories in the history of psychology. Whatever it is now, your view of human nature will change profoundly as you read this brilliant book."—Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast and Slow

"A fascinating book. It is such an addictive treat that I had no self-control in reading it, until I understood that I could actually improve my self-control, and from then on I was in marshmallow heaven. Stimulating, fun, clear, lively, and drawn from rigorous studies. It's not only accessible, but very convincing. Seriously, I love it."—Alan Alda, actor, writer, science communication advocate

"This is the book we've all been waiting for."—Angela Lee Duckworth, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, and a 2013 MacArthur Foundation Fellow

"This is an amazing - eye-opening, transformative, riveting - book from one of the greatest psychologists of our time. Mischel delivers the powerful message that self-control can be enhanced, and shows us how!"—Carol S. Dweck, Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, author of Mindset

"The Marshmallow Test, a charmingly told scientific story, makes clear the test is not just about youngsters, but is helpful to us all in the marshmallow moments we face through life. Mischel has written a wonderful book, engaging, enlightening, and profound."—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and Focus

"This marvelous book is unique, and beautifully written from beginning to end. The range that Walter Mischel covers-from creative cognitive science to neuroscience to genetics-is breathtaking. This speaks for science at its best. Bravo!"—Eric R. Kandel, MD, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, University Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, author of The Age of Insight and In Search of Memory

"Walter Mischel is one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, and The Marshmallow Test will make him one of the most influential in this century, too."—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of The Better Angels of Our Nature.

"A fascinating story of a brilliant researcher at work and a recipe for how to change one's life."—Timothy Wilson, Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia, author of Redirect

"Expansive, eye-opening...All of the anecdotes here, not to mention the entire chapter on practical applications, provide insight into how we can maximize our willpower—without overextending its potential....To be human is to grapple with the will: this stimulating books encourages us to make mindful decisions."—Publishers Weekly

"Mischel uses his impressive experience along with others' related research in the field to explore the nature-and nurture-of willpower. He explains simply and elegantly the complex neural and cognitive components that affect our ability to self-regulate."—Success

"This masterwork is a profound and inspiring exploration of the essential question of how we struggle to regulate our own behavior and how we can more frequently win the battle for self-control."—David Laibson, Department of Economics, Harvard University

"Fast-paced and engaging ... An encouraging reminder that, despite all the factors that urge us to indulge, 'at the end of that causal chain, it is the individual who is the agent of the action and decides when to ring the bell.' You are ultimately in control of yourself."
—Wall Street Journal

"The happy revelation of Mischel's book is that destiny is not determined by a swallowed or unswallowed marshmallow. . . . a book that can show you how to change your behavior: whether it's finally setting up that pension, cutting your alcohol intake or shunning the marshmallows for good."
—Evening Standard

"A tour de force . . . It is to be hoped that this book will make [Mischel] as much of a household name as his marshmallows are."—Times Higher Education

"A fascinating read... In crisp, clear English he explains the latest research and helps readers understand better the surprising results of one the most well-known psychological experiments of all time."—The Economist

From the Publisher

"The discoveries that grew out of the marshmallow studies add up to one of the most insightful research stories in the history of psychology. Whatever it is now, your view of human nature will change profoundly as you read this brilliant book."

Daniel Kahneman

Alan Alda’s relaxed performance makes it easy to pay attention to and digest this discussion on the importance of delayed gratification. The author conducted the now famous “marshmallow experiments” with preschoolers more than 20 years ago: Eat one marshmallow now or wait a bit and get two later? It’s pure listening pleasure to hear Alda’s familiar voice and authentic engagement with this important book. The author shows how children who contained their impulses in the study demonstrated, later in life, substantially higher SAT scores, more effective goal attainment, better stress management, and more resistance to addictions. Offering promising evidence that life-draining impulsivity can be replaced by more thoughtful decision making, this is an accessible collection of brain science and behavioral strategies that can help us improve this critical life skill. T.W. 2015 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2015 - AudioFile

Alan Alda’s relaxed performance makes it easy to pay attention to and digest this discussion on the importance of delayed gratification. The author conducted the now famous “marshmallow experiments” with preschoolers more than 20 years ago: Eat one marshmallow now or wait a bit and get two later? It’s pure listening pleasure to hear Alda’s familiar voice and authentic engagement with this important book. The author shows how children who contained their impulses in the study demonstrated, later in life, substantially higher SAT scores, more effective goal attainment, better stress management, and more resistance to addictions. Offering promising evidence that life-draining impulsivity can be replaced by more thoughtful decision making, this is an accessible collection of brain science and behavioral strategies that can help us improve this critical life skill. T.W. 2015 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2015 - AudioFile

2014-07-23
Mischel (Psychology/Columbia Univ.) argues that our ability to voluntarily exercise self-restraint in pursuit of that just-got-to-have-it desire provides children with a powerful tool that can help them succeed later in life.Numerous research studies have suggested that those who practice self-control do better on their SATs, have great reserves of self-worth, less stress, and have less incidence of obesity and addiction. These are preliminary findings, notes the author, who developed the classic "marshmallow experiment," which illustrates ideas of self-control and delayed gratification. The preponderance of evidence has not yet come down on one side or the other, and he acknowledges the powerful drive for instant gratification—he, too, wants it now, whatever it is, not at some nebulous time in the future. Mischel also notes that people with emotional grounding, advanced social skills and off-the-charts intellectual abilities can still be crippled by self-control issues. The exact source of self-control remains a mystery: Is it a product of nature, of nurture or an acquired cognitive skill of some kind? Researchers have been able to identity two types: "Hot" self-control is "emotional, reflexive unconscious"; the "cool" variety is "cognitive, reflective, slower and effortful." Undoubtedly, there will be nuances down the road, further complicating the picture, but for now, Mischel gets to the heart of the matter. "The emotional brain's predisposition to overvalue immediate rewards and to greatly discount the value of delayed rewards," writes the author, "points to what we need to do if we want to take control: we have to reverse the process by cooling the present and heating the future….push the temptation in front of you far away in space and time, and bring the distant consequences closer in your mind."No one will deny that self-control would make for a better planet, and this cogent guide suggests paths that may lead us to more conscious control of this desirable quality.

Kirkus Reviews