‘The Marshmallow Test’ (Walter Mischel): Why altering your conscience is good for you.

Here we go again. Get ready for the inevitable siege of the ‘new year, new me’ army. Empty promises to ones-self to get slim are so common at this time of year, that if I had a pound for each I’d have enough for… well, liposuction? 

In the ‘The Marshmallow Test’, Walter Mischel proposes that we can deliberately and effectively cognitively reappraise events by using the prefrontal cortex to critically adjust the way we interpret temptation. I want to try and explain this in colloquial English (for my own benefit if nothing else). In essence, using the part of our brain that is responsible for emotions and problem solving, we can adjust the way we think about temptation, which can allow us to gain a deep mastery of self-control. The word ‘temptation’ probably springs to mind a fat chocolate cake, so I figured I’d throw in a picture of one, however, it’s used in a much wider context here. Think of temptation as anything that involves immediate gratification (drinking alcohol and partying etc.). 

Self-control is crucial for the pursuit of long-term goals; it means we can pursue activities that require deferred gratification like studying, starting a business, dieting, or the plethora of things that will improve us. In the book, Mischel states: “[self control] is the master aptitude underlying emotional intelligence, essential for constructing a fulfilling life. It can help people avoid becoming entrapped early in life, dropping out of school, becoming impervious to consequences, or getting stuck in jobs [we] hate”. 

So this year instead of picking a diet plan, why not start mastering self-control. If you want to lose 20 pounds, spend 20 pounds on this book.

How? Here’s three ways the book suggests we can alter our cognition to improve our self-control: 

i) Imagine someone else making the choice. ‘One way to momentarily escape the brains desire for gratification is to imagine how someone else would behave. It’s easier to use our rational mind when making choices for others rather than ourselves’. Ask yourself: “What would an intelligent person do”, then try to apply your decision about their life to yours.

ii) De-stress. Yale neuroscientists concluded that “mild acute uncontrollable stress can cause a rapid and dramatic loss of prefrontal cognitive abilities”. Hence, if you’re stressed, your ability to handle situations with self-control is rapidly diminished and negated.

iii) Think of the shapes. This one is more about food. In a study of preschool children, it was shown that those who thought about a treat in front of them as a picture and not as a tangible object of desire, were much more able to delay gratification and not eat the treat. This is because; as one child humorously described it “you can’t eat a picture”! Thinking about food as an image that we are seeing helps negate our strong emotion for wanting to eat it.

... Happy new year!