Abstract
We replicate the Stanford marshmallow experiment with a sample of 141 preschoolers and find a correlation between lack of self-control and 2D:4D digit ratio. Children with low 2D:4D digit ratio are less likely to delay gratification. Low 2D:4D digit ratio may indicate high fetal testosterone. If this hypothesis is true, our finding means high fetal testosterone children are less likely to delay gratification.
Highlights
In a famous experiment conducted 40 years ago at Stanford [1], when a group of 4 year olds were faced with a choice between a small reward, which they could have at any time, or a larger reward, for which they had to wait 15 minutes, about half the children managed to delay gratification
This study considered the relationship between the probability of delay of gratification and three variables: gender, 2D:4D digit ratio and handedness
The results posit an inverse relationship between a delay of gratification in preschoolers and their digit ratios
Summary
In a famous experiment conducted 40 years ago at Stanford [1], when a group of 4 year olds were faced with a choice between a small reward (one Oreo cookie), which they could have at any time, or a larger reward (two cookies), for which they had to wait 15 minutes, about half the children managed to delay gratification. Resistance to temptation as measured by the cookie test is a lifelong individual difference that predicts reliable biases in frontostriatal circuitries, which integrate motivational and control processes [3]. We revisit the experiment to further consider: children’s gender, 2D:4D digit ratio and handedness. The digit ratio indicates the relative lengths of the second (‘‘index’’) finger and the fourth (‘‘ring’’) finger, and may be a biomarker of fetal testosterone levels [4]
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