What does a marshmallow have to do with a Guinness beer? At first glance nothing, but symbolically both stand for two opposing poles of a phenomenon: that we can not wait, immediately and immediately want the instant gratification and thus deprive us of the anticipation of the beautiful things. As in this investigation known as the Marshmallow Test.

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The Marshmallow test

The test may be funny, the underlying psycho-phenomena it is less - that has already impressively demonstrated in the 1960ER and 1970er years of the psychologist Walter Mischel.

In the preschool at Stanford University Four-year-olds were given the following task: They were offered a marshmallow that they could eat immediately. But if they waited a few minutes and were patient, they would get another one.

Those who are tolerated are also more successful in life

The reactions were very different: Some children ate the marshmallow right away. Others had to distract themselves or the Eyes locked so that they could control themselves.

14 years later, Mischel found out that the children who grabbed it immediately were also rather stubborn, impatient and jealous as adults. Those who were able to control themselves during the experiment, on the other hand, were stress-resistant and social competently and more reliable. In short: you were also more successful in life.

Success and enjoyment take time

The Guinness stands for the opposite phenomenon, so to speak: "Good things come to those who wait" says the GuinnessAdvertising. Because a good Guinness supposedly needs a whole seven minutes to be poured properly.

And even as children we heard the saying in disbelief with the anticipation as the most beautiful joy and were very surprised. For what, if you can, could be more enjoyable than enjoying something beautiful right now? We suspected behind it (often consistent) an act of consummation of adults.

Help, instant gratification

Today we can often choose ourselves when we want to treat ourselves or reward ourselves for our services. And what do we do? Honestly, most people are still not good at being put off until later. We want everything and we want it now.

Immediate gratification is still what we strive for. Is there something wrong with that? After all, it is always suggested to us that we only have to take what we need or want. Then how can we manage to motivate ourselves for long-term projects under these conditions, when everything is always immediately available?