[koryk]

I would recommend Walter Mischel's 2014 book "The Marshmallow Test." He argues that the power of the marshmallow test is not in demonstrating that some children innately have more self-control than others, but in revealing how this skill can be cultivated and improved with practice and the right strategies.

I think the critiques are completely valid, Mischel did not account for many variables like socioeconomic status, family environment, etc. However, I do not believe it necessarily disproves his conclusion of being able to cultivate skills like self-control.

[elishah]

Yes, that famous marshmallow test has now been debunked several times from several angles. Many of them come down to the issue that the test was not measuring the participants' willpower so much as it was measuring their confidence that the test administrator would follow through on their promise.

So regardless of the validity of the method proposed here, I'd say that framing this article around references to that experiment is a mistake.

[danielheath]

I’d argue it offers an equally important conclusion; the people around you have better outcomes if you give them reason to trust you will follow through on your word.