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Delay of gratification and the role of defaults—An experiment with kindergarten children

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  • Sutter, Matthias
  • Yilmaz, Levent
  • Oberauer, Manuela

Abstract

The ability to delay gratification has been shown to be related to higher education and income and better health status. We study in an experiment with 336 kindergarten children, aged three to six years, whether intertemporal choice behavior is malleable. In a control condition, about 50% of children prefer two rewards the next day over one reward immediately. By setting a simple default this fraction increases to more than 70%, indicating that simple defaults work very successfully in promoting delay of gratification. We also find that patience increases with age and that more patient children have a lower BMI.

Suggested Citation

  • Sutter, Matthias & Yilmaz, Levent & Oberauer, Manuela, 2015. "Delay of gratification and the role of defaults—An experiment with kindergarten children," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 21-24.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:21-24
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.08.028
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    Cited by:

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    2. Quis, Johanna Sophie & Bela, Anika & Heineck, Guido, 2018. "Preschoolers' self-regulation, skill differentials, and early educational outcomes," BERG Working Paper Series 140, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    3. Thomas, Ranjeeta & Galizzi, Matteo M. & Moorhouse, Louisa & Nyamukapa, Constance & Hallett, Timothy B., 2024. "Do risk, time and prosocial preferences predict risky sexual behaviour of youths in a low-income, high-risk setting?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
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    7. Antonio Alfonso & Pablo Brañas-Garza & Diego Jorrat & Benjamín Prissé & María José Vázquez-De Francisco, 2024. "The Baking of Preferences throughout the High School," Working Papers 316, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    8. Sutter, Matthias & Zoller, Claudia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela, 2019. "Economic behavior of children and adolescents – A first survey of experimental economics results," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 98-121.
    9. Franziska Unger & Martina Steul-Fischer & Nadine Gatzert, 2024. "How default effects and decision timing affect annuity uptake and health consciousness," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 49(1), pages 180-211, January.
    10. Alexander Cappelen & John List & Anya Samek & Bertil Tungodden, 2016. "The Effect of Early Education on Social Preferences," Framed Field Experiments 00584, The Field Experiments Website.
    11. Tim Friehe & Markus Pannenberg, 2020. "Time preferences and political regimes: evidence from reunified Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 349-387, January.
    12. Matthias Sutter & Silvia Angerer & Daniela Rützler & Philipp Lergetporer, 2015. "The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Experimental Evidence from Children's Intertemporal Choices," CESifo Working Paper Series 5532, CESifo.
    13. Ashlesha Datar & Nancy Nicosia & Anya Samek, 2022. "Heterogeneity in Place Effects on Health: The Case of Time Preferences and Adolescent Obesity," NBER Working Papers 29935, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Datar, Ashlesha & Nicosia, Nancy & Samek, Anya, 2023. "Heterogeneity in place effects on health: The case of time preferences and adolescent obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    15. Chen, Josie I. & He, Tai-Sen, 2021. "Discounting from a distance: The effect of pronoun drop on intertemporal decisions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    16. Grosch, Kerstin & Haeckl, Simone & Rau, Holger & Preuss, Paul, 2023. "A Guide to Conducting School Experiments: Expert Insights and Best Practices for Effective Implementation," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2023/2, University of Stavanger.
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    19. Despoina Alempaki & Genyue Fu & Jingcheng Fu, 2021. "Lying and social norms: a lab-in-the-field experiment with children," Discussion Papers 2021-01, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Delay of gratification; Intertemporal choice; Default; Experiment; Children;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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