As you dive deeper into the wealth of information contained in
The Marshmallow Test, the more you can understand what underlies bullying, unwanted weight, smoking, anger, AND overall health. Here is an excerpt from this remarkable longitudinal study and book by Columbia University psychologist
Walter Mischel.
“THE MOST EXCITING FINDINGS from the marshmallow studies are
not the unexpected long-term links between seconds of waiting on the
Marshmallow Test and doing well later in life. More impressive is that if we
have delay ability and use it, we are better protected from our personal
vulnerabilities—such as a predisposition to gain unwanted weight, become angry,
feel hurt and rejected, and so on—and can live with these predispositions more
constructively. The research that shows how and why self-control has this
positive effect has focused on a widespread and pernicious vulnerability called
rejection sensitivity (RS), and I
turn here to what has been learned about it.
In middle school, high RS children are more easily
victimized and bullied by their peers and are lonelier. In the long run, people
who are high in this vulnerability continue to experience more rejection, which
in time erodes their sense of personal worth and self-esteem, making depression
more likely.”
The previous post was meant to be an introduction to this post. As preadolescent and adolescent kids attempt to figure out the birds and bees and parents try to figure out how to tell their children about the birds and bees, there is an expert who is the best at helping kids and parents understand the birds and bees. Her name is Deborah Roffman!
