Kids today are waiting longer than ever in the classic marshmallow test

Researchers aren’t sure what’s driving this willingness to delay gratification

marshmallow test

HOLD OUTS  Over the past 50 years, white, middle-class kids have shown an increasing willingness to delay gratification on the marshmallow test, a new study finds. Reasons for this trend, and the relationship of marshmallow test scores to later behavior, are unclear.

J. Adam Fenster/Univ. of Rochester

Hold that marshmallow and don’t ask for s’more.