Thread: Instant gratification - try again

In an age of Internet, iPhones and copious Social Media outlets, isn't it like asking if motor vehicles are more sophisticated now than in the 1970s?

For the above stated reasons pretty much every age group demands instant gratification these days. Not just teenagers.

BibL, what's the purpose of your question?

are you trying to confirm your bias?

Originally Posted by ian

BibL, what's the purpose of your question?

are you trying to confirm your bias?

It will come out in due time.

Originally Posted by dubrosa22

For the above stated reasons pretty much every age group demands instant gratification these days. Not just teenagers.

This.

I guess that in my day we still wanted instant gratification... it just wasn't anywhere near as readily accessible so we were less inclined to demand it.

E-mail thru fidonet servers took a day each way for the rare few who actually understood the tech. Mobile telephony on one's person was not an option, you had to use hardwired devices. Online shopping? *SNRK* Etc., etc.

I think so but I wouldn’t just limit it to teenagers. Instant gratification is everywhere these days from the food we eat to entertainment. I honestly think the digital age has been a pretty huge double edged sword, we’ve seen huge advancements but at what cost? Despite us being more connected than ever there is very little sense of being part of a community and I feel like we probably socialise less than we used to just because we feel that false sense of connection.

Originally Posted by BobL

The question is;
"In your opinion, are today's teenagers from the USA likely to require more, the same, or less, instant gratification than teenagers from the 1970's"?


Thanks

I have no idea about teenagers from the USA, are they special in some way?

Peter.

Originally Posted by Sturdee

I have no idea about teenagers from the USA, are they special in some way?

Peter.

Well they are they ones for which long term (50 years) research data is available.
Given the some might say unfortunate "cultural" impact of the US media etc on Australia I thought some members night have a view/bias/insight into this.

I for one am not happy when I come in from the shed on a hot day and there's not an icy cold Grolsch sitting on the kitchen bench for me to consume
This happens regularly and I noticed that it even happens when I'm the only one home!

Prior to some fancy machine being invented and used on a regular basis with trained operators, when a female found them selves in the family way, they had to wait until said child was born to find out if it was male or female.
Today it seams to be the thing to find out the sex of the unborn child as early as possible, about 12 or 13 weeks of pregnancy.

If ultra sound is not available, you still need to wait until the child is born to find out its sex.

Now is this instant gratification.

Originally Posted by BobL

The question is;
"In your opinion, are todays teenagers from the USA likely to require more, the same, or less, instant gratification than teenagers from the 1970's"?

Sorry no "rats ring" response available because we found that last month.
If you know the research please don't reveal it until we get a decent response.
Thanks

Bob, I gave a talk on Internet Addiction late last year. It's an area of interest since I see so many kids with this issue.

One of the stats I will toss out is that, between 2011 and 2015, the number of teenagers who were on their smart phones at midnight doubled, and the same for the numbers on their smart phones at 2-3 a.m. This group represented about 25% of teenagers. I have no doubt that these figures have increased since 2015. As I recall, these were Oz teenagers.

The issue here is not simply impulsivity and instant gratification, but poor self regulation (the current buzz term).

My favourite story is that, when I was about 11 years old (that would be about 1961), I had a game of chess with an uncle of mine. Well, playing chess was not unusual, however my uncle lived in another country (in London). So we would write a move on a post card and send it off. Back-and-forth the post cards went, and the play carried on this way for over 2 years before we got together to finish the game.

I ask parents whether they believe children today could do this.

The correct answer is that children today do not need to do this. They have the Internet, Skype, email, etc.

What is missing today are many of the activities we took for granted growing up, activities that fostered self control and tolerance. Even activities such as sending off a coupon from the back of a comic or cereal box to get a badge ... and then waiting three months for it to arrive. You remember the days?

Do you remember waiting until dinner before telephoning anyone? There was no thought given to being near a telephone and, even if a message was left on a machine (if you had one), the urge to call back immediately was just not there. Today who walks around without a mobile phone (except for me)? Or answers it when in a meeting, or in the middle of a conversation with another, or at the meal table ....? The self control of adults has also eroded. And we are meant to set the example for teenagers.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

And we are meant to set the example for teenagers.

And we do! Just the wrong one....

My info comes from a long term study I heard about on an "All in the mind" ABC Podcast ("Kids of today", released last Sunday) yesterday" which also discussed the internet as the source of all things bad with kids these days.

The speaker was a US researcher who looked at the following longitudinal study on instant gratification performed in the US since 1970.

The test involves random selection of teenagers and telling them to select a treat from this range of treats (box containing a range of lollies and chocolate bars etc)
Then two plates are laid out in front of the teenager, one plate contains one treat, and the other contains two of the same treat.
The the teenager is told you can have the plate with the one treat now, or wait and have the plate with the two later.

The research polled some 200 mental health professionals across the US and asked them the same question that I asked in this poll.
The result of this poll was that ~50% of the professionals through that teenager instant gratification has increased over time, 30% said it has stayed the same and 20% said it would have reduced.

Based on this test the teenagers since 1970 have actually steadily reduced their need for instant gratification, so even most of the professionals did not get it right and looking at the poll results suggest were as good at predicting this as the professionals

RE: internet etc - if anything kids are pragmatic and they pick up on new things quickly and explore/exploit them in ways that adults may not even think of. We should not confuse ease and breadth of access with instant gratification. Why wait for something when standard technology allows you to have it now? With some reservations I'm strongly with the kids on this one. Instead of using these forum we could all be writing letters to each other ?

The researcher on the podcast went onto to say that the latest tech often gets blamed for various things that they can find no explanation for. 20 years ago it was video games, 20 years before that it was TV, 30 year before that it was radio. Even the humble novel was said by authorities in the 19th century to be a source of moral degradation leading to lower classes thinking too far above their station.

A better test for instant gratification using the internet might be, "You can have this nice thing (eg tool) for $500 now OR buy it on line for $250 but you have to wait for 4 weeks for it to arrive by post" , now that might be an interesting poll to do with kids and adults.

BTW I recommend the podcast.

Spurred by this post I found this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3685794/ and this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730121/.

It would appear that these may provide some insight into the 'live for today' attitudes evinced by some.