Delay of Gratification in Infancy : Effects of Infants' Temperament and Parenting

The purpose of this study was to extend our understanding of the developmental antecedents of delay of gratification in infancy. The first goal was to examine direct effects of one feature of an infants’ temperament and of positive and negative parenting assumed at age one on children’s delay of gratification six months later. The second goal of the study was to test the interactive effect of early infant temperament and parenting on children’s delay of gratification. It was hypothesized that 1) less negative infants at 12 months would delay gratification longer six months later, 2) children of parents who provided more positive and sensitive feedback would delay gratification longer than children with parents who were more negative and less sensitive, and 3) there would be differential prediction of parenting for children who scored high and low in negative emotionality as infants. Toward this end, 81 infants were observed interacting at one year of age with their mothers and fathers during laboratory assessments to obtain measures of parenting and infant negative emotionality. At 18 months of age, the child’s capacity to delay touching attractive objects was measured. The main effects of infant negative emotionality and of mothering on children’s delay of gratification were not detected at standard levels of significance. Differential effects of parenting on children’s delay of gratification for infants with low or high negative emotionality, too, were not detected. However, the anticipated effect of fathering on delay of gratification was found in some analyses, indicating that the more positive fathering children received, the longer they could delay gratification in the laboratory six months later.