The essence of patience is the ability to delay the gratification of an appetite in favour of a greater ultimate reward.

ECONOMIST: Evolution

We know from research that people who delay their gratification succeed more on a number of different criteria relationships, finances, achievements.

FORBES: How to Use Temptation to Strengthen Your Willpower

As Walter Mischel showed in a series of groundbreaking studies, children who can delay gratification are more likely to go to college and less likely to end up in jail.

FORBES: What Obese People Can Learn from Pigeons

Past tests of the degree to which animals other than people can delay their gratification have focused on birds and monkeys.

ECONOMIST: Evolution

The initial goal of the experiment was to identify the mental processes that allowed some people to delay gratification while others simply surrendered.

NEWYORKER: Don��t!

Footage of these experiments, which were conducted over several years, is poignant, as the kids struggle to delay gratification for just a little bit longer.

NEWYORKER: Don��t!