Kids today. The phrase is usually followed by eye-rolling and words like self-absorbed, impatient and entitled. But the idea that today\u2019s children need immediate gratification turns out to be wrong. In fact, research published last month in the journal Developmental Psychology shows that they are much more patient than kids were 50 years ago.<\/p>\n
Yes, you read that correctly. Twenty-first century children are able to wait longer for a reward than children of the same age a generation ago, and a generation before that. The new study shows that today\u2019s preschoolers are better at what psychologists call self-regulation, which is the conscious control of one\u2019s immediate desires\u2014the ability to hold off and wait until the time is right.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Carlson, the lead author of the paper and a professor at the University of Minnesota\u2019s Institute of Child Development, knows that her findings will come as a surprise: \u201cThe implicit assumption is that there\u2019s no way that kids can delay. They\u2019re used to being gratified immediately and don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to be bored anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
But faithful re-enactments of the famous \u201cmarshmallow experiment\u201d have upended that notion. <\/p>\n