The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control

As a disciplined person who has always disagreed with people wo lacked it, this book helps me to understand exactly why.

This is a very good book especially when you feel yourself in tough situation in your job career. I first bought this book for some reference for bringing up my child who is about to be 3 years old and getting more assertive in some situation losing her "self-control." I found this book, however, pretty useful even for adults, getting its message that they can also change their view and behavior when they meet some temptation using if-then strategies. This happened to coincide with my present situation where I feel myself in bleak condition for my present and future career, and feeling strong temptation to flee to more easy job. After reading, I'm more determined to face the present situation and have more grit.

Walter Mischel, the author of this fascinating book, is a 84 year old professor at Columbia University. Mischel became known at the end of the 1960s, mainly through his publications about two topics. The first topic was the degree to which situations influence human behavior. He did research which showed that the idea that people have stable personality traits which cause us to behave consistently over many situations is largely a myth. Instead, he demonstrated, we tend to behave quite differently in different contexts. Thus, characteristics of situations have a significant influence on how we behave.The second topic was self-control. Together with colleagues he did much research into the causes and consequences of self-control, in particular with regard to how children manage to delay gratification. The series of experiments which these researchers did have become know under the popular name of the Marshmallow test, hence the book title.The book begins with a details description of the marshmallow experiments. Mischel shows how the ability of children to delay gratification and resist temptation has great implications for how their lives proceed. Children who were more able to delay gratification, on average had more successful and happier lives than children who were worse a delay gratification.Mischel emphasizes that this willpower is not a predetermined and fixed characteristic of people but a learnable skill. He explains that through relatively easy and learnable techniques we can learn to not respond in an emotional and uncontrolled manner but in a wise and controlled manner.In case you should wonder, Mischel did not get stuck in the '60s and '70s at all. The book proves that he remained very involved and up-to-date in current research in psychology and neuroscience.

There is a lot to love here. First, this is the book by the guy who invented the famed Marshmallow Test so being able to read about it from its creator is helpful and interesting. Secondly, he does a great job making the ideas of self-control practical and useful. I thought it lagged a little in the middle and isn't always an easy read but it's solid and very useful. Great stuff. If you persevere you will learn how to build your self-control or help your child grow their self-control.

As a parent, I feel so much more qualified and ready to empower my three kids to take control of themselves as they grow.As a 40-something man who is in need of help gaining some sense of self control, I feel like I've picked up a few nuggets of wisdom here and there about how the subject matter can be applied to who I am now, but not enough to resolve my more immediate needs.There is a lot of great information about shaping those who are in the early stages of development, but not much to apply practically (beyond the last couple of chapters) to well-ingrained issues being addressed in those of us further along the journey.

This book was published in September 2014 and probably is going to become the 'read' for 2015. Walter Mishel is the originator of the actual Marshmallow test and goes into some detail about the study he carried out at Stanford and also the corroborating work he and his colleagues have done in other locations. I am interested in the subject of emotional intelligence and the delayed self-gratification of the marshmallow test is expounded by Goleman in his book as the sine qua non of emotional intelligence.However that is not why you should read this book. Mischel covers a lot of the scientific research done since actual marshmallow test in a number of areas answering such questions as:Why does Cognitive Behaviour theory work and psychoanalysis does not?How strong is your Psychological Immune System?Why do Smart People (eg Bill Clinton, TIger Woods) Act Stupid?and many more other topics such as Executive Function and Willpower Fatigue.It was this further work that I found interesting and it has not really been covered in the popular science books. Reading this book will enable you leapfrog your understanding of how the mind works.

Excellent, fascinating reading. Plus lots of good tricks for delaying gratification and cooling down those hot impulses that get us in trouble, whether it's food, drink, or morality. A really clear and conversational writer, occasionally very self-revealing. His personal transparency about parts of his life experience make him a very believable source, one you feel you can trust because he has "been there." Truly one of the best research psychologists ever, doing work that translates to solid help for children and adults who are challenged by those hard-to-resist temptations.

Well written

This book is very interesting and useful.Highly recommend to read.

Gostei muito. Foi muito rápido o envio. Estava em excelentes condições.

llegó perfecto.

Gran bel libro