MULTIDIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENT OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION PREFERRENCE WITH INCARCERATED OFFENDERS

• NCJ Number: 54396
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Psychology Volume: 35 Issue: 1 Dated: (JANUARY 1979) Pages: 218-226
• Author(s): J S WORMITH; B HASENPUSCH
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 8 pages
• Corporate Author: Clinical Psychology Publishing Co
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

DELAYED GRATIFICATION PREFERENCE WAS EXAMINED IN THIS STUDY OF 48 INMATES FROM A CANADIAN PRISON.

Abstract

DELAYED GRATIFICATION PREFERENCE WAS DEFINED AS THE WILLINGNESS TO POSTPONE THE IMMEDIATE SATISFACTION OF A NEED FOR THE SAKE OF A LATER, BUT LARGER SATISFACTION OF THE SAME NEED. THE PRESENT STUDY ATTEMPTED TO RELATE A NUMBER OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION SCALES TO MEASURES OF SAVING AND PLANNING. SUBJECTS WERE 48 RESIDENTS OF A MINIMUM SECURITY INSTITUTION OF THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO'S MINISTRY OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES. PARTICIPATION WAS VOLUNTARY. BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE PROJECT, INMATES WERE GIVEN A BATTERY OF TESTS AND QUESTIONNAIRES. INDEPENDENT MEASURES WERE THE PERCENTAGE OF ALLOWANCE THAT RESIDENTS SPENT IN THE INSTITUTION'S CANTEEN AND THE FREQUENCY OF PLANNING BEHAVIOR OBSERVED IN THE RESIDENTS' LETTERS. PLANNING WAS DEFINED TO INCLUDE SEEKING INFORMATION, SEEKING ADVICE, MAKING AN APPLICATION, OR MAKING A DECISION. RELIABILITY CHECKS SHOWED AN INTERRATER AGREEMENT OF 83 PERCENT ON THE CLASSIFICATION SCHEME. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING STEPWISE MULTIPLE REGRESSON. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE INTERCORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE TEST AND QUESTIONNAIRE MEASURES WERE GENERALLY LOW. IT WAS, THEREFORE, SUGGESTED THAT COMBINED MEASURES OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION PREFERENCE BE DEVELOPED THROUGH MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS. SUCH AN APPROACH WAS VIEWED AS MORE USEFUL THAN TAKING SINGLE MEASURES ALONE. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE ATTEMPTS AT CONSTRUCTING COMBINED MEASURES OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION PREFERENCE WERE AS FOLLOWS: (1) HYPOTHETICAL MEASURES SHOULD BE INCLUDED AS WELL AS BEHAVIORAL MEASURES; (2) CRUDE MEASURES SHOULD BE SEEN AS PREFERABLE TO CERTAIN PSYCHOMETRIC SCALES; (3) A MEASURE OF SOCIAL DESIRABILITY SHOULD BE INCLUDED; (4) MONETARY AND MATERIAL CHOICE SCALES SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY; AND (5) THE RORSCHACH TEST'S HUMAN MOVEMENT RESONSE SHOULD NOT BE RULED OUT AS A MEASURE. TABLES AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (MLC)