Motivation and Delayed Gratification

Too Many Theories

I have long held the view that an overabundance of theories plagues most areas of psychology. Don’t get me wrong, I know we need research to support our professional decision-making. However, in my view, there are too many subpar theories, models, and papers out there. Google Motivation and sport psychology theories, and you’ll see what I mean.

This then significantly increases the workload of applied sport and performance psychologists, such as the current Condor Performance team. We try to read as many peer-reviewed journals on sport psychology as possible. Unfortunately, we have to sort through the mountain to find the gems.

Oh, and there are some real gems.

One of these is the work done on delayed gratification via the Stanford Marshmallow Experiments. Starting in the 1960s, Walter Mischel conducted a series of studies that provided a significant clue about the motivational requirements of successful people.

One Marshmallow Now Or Two Later?

In these studies, children between the ages of four and eight were offered a choice. Each child, in turn, could pick between one small reward immediately or two later. One marshmallow now or two later, you decide? If the child chose to have two marshmallows later, then it would be on the condition that the single treat was still there when the experimenter returned. This was usually after about 15 minutes.

Remarkably, in the majority of the tests, about half the children devoured the one marshmallow almost immediately. The other half would exercise great willpower and wait for the experimenter to return.

In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to “delay their gratification” tended to have better life outcomes. For example, these high-powered youngsters went on to achieve better exam results. They were happier and more likely to have good relationships. They ended up with much better jobs than the kids with lower willpower.

Below is a 6-minute TED talk that provides a more detailed explanation of the concept and experiments.

Although I assume that Professor Mischel had little interest in the specific field of sport psychology, I can’t imagine another branch of psychology where the concept of delayed gratification is more relevant.

Delayed Gratification and Performance

Delayed gratification is really just “doing something difficult now in the hope that it will prove worth it later on”.

Of all the hundreds of theories on motivation in sport psychology, this is, in my opinion, the most useful. Quite simply put, one of the chief reasons why so few succeed is that they can’t link their short-term struggles with their long-term aspirations.

Most athletes and coaches try to find shortcuts. They throw in the towel when the rewards for their effort are not immediate and obvious. They gobble down the single marshmallow instead of waiting for two. Very few people naturally love getting up at 4 am to do laps under floodlights. But the champions and champions-in-the-making do it anyway.

In the defence of ‘most athletes’, it’s unlikely that anyone has taken the time to explain to them one of the most essential and overlooked ingredients to success: patience.

Doing the hard yards in the preseason so the rewards can come during the season.

What If The Kids Had Been Coached First?

What would have happened if all the Marshmallow experiment participants had been coached beforehand? Imagine a performance psychologist had been allowed to spend time helping the kids mentally prepare first. How about the impact if a sports psychologist shows pictures of other kids succeeding?

Imagine if all the subjects had been taught proper mindfulness techniques, thus allowing ‘urges’ just to be noticed.

However, elite sport, especially at the highest level, requires a bit more delayed gratification than 15 minutes. On many occasions, the significant “payoff” for effort might only be 10 or even 20 years down the track. That’s a long time to wait for that second marshmallow! Consider the young athletes who sacrifice time with friends and family during their teenage years, only to reap the rewards in their twenties and thirties.

Remember, the experiments centred around one marshmallow now or two later. The children were not left with a brussell sprout for 15 minutes. This is a super important point. There was nothing mean about leaving the kids alone in a room with one marshmallow. The only difficulty some of them experienced was the tussle between their own strength of mind and their own temptations.

Applied Sport Psychology

At Condor Performance, one way we help those we work with embrace delayed gratification is by encouraging them to track their progress.

Key Performance Indicators can “bridge the gap” between the daily and weekly grind and possible moments of glory. These monthly checks act a little like licking the marshmallow but not eating it. They help remind us about what we might get later on down the track. They remind us about why we’re doing what we’re doing, even if it’s uncomfortable. The proper monthly checks, in my opinion, are the most potent motivators available when you can’t actually use marshmallows.

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