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Learning about investing
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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Thank you so much for sharing all those little details.
So, in your rundown, you point out that the marshmallow test is, in fact, NOT a predictor of life outcomes.
Problem: I have never heard the marshmallow test brought up without it mentioing that it DOES predict life outcomes. Maybe like Zimbardo's Prison Experiment, it entered the culture as research, was thoroughly discredited, but then lived on as myth because it supports core social beliefs.
I feel like studies that make a splash, that have an impact, that get quoted in Ted Talks, etc., really have to be investigated from the standpoint of, "Why are people so desperate to believe this? What beliefs and values is it supporting?"
So, this might be a case of differing sources of information. I've never actually heard much emphasis out on the life outcomes angle, it's always been in the delayed gratification techniques part.
It's a case where I'd hesitate to use the phrase "discredit" because they actually did demonstrate what they were looking to show with the marshmallow test, and their findings do correlate with life outcomes: specifically delaying gratification and managing frustration. It's just that childhood marshmallow skills don't imply anything about study diligence in teenagers.
It would not at all surprise me if people used it to create a misleading narrative, I just haven't actually seen it personally.