The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure?
I found the following post [1] to make a very compelling argument that the Marshmallow test isn&#x27;t really testing for the ability to defer gratification, but for a &quot;generalised ability&#x2F;desire to take and pass tests&quot; (manifesting itself here as the desire to pass the Marshmallow test). The post argues that this is an underrecognised character trait which can predict success in today&#x27;s Western test-oriented world. Certainly I personally possess this trait in spades, and my personal history is full of instances where this trait was extremely useful to me.<p>Assuming the trait is either heritable or culturally imbued (and intuitively it seems very likely that at least one of those is true), it makes sense that rich parents are more likely to have children who are either natively or culturally high in The Desire To Pass Tests: indeed, our society heavily rewards people who have TDTPT, so rich parents are more likely to be high in TDTPT and therefore are more likely to have genetically or culturally passed it to their children.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hotelconcierge.tumblr.com&#x2F;post&#x2F;113360634364&#x2F;the-stanford-marshmallow-prison-experiment" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hotelconcierge.tumblr.com&#x2F;post&#x2F;113360634364&#x2F;the-stan...</a>