Marshmallow Experiment

The Marshmallow Experiment Student’s Name Institution Course Number and Name Instructor’s Name Date The Marshmallow Experiment Our success in life depends to a great extent on our ability to forgo immediate rewards in favor of more fulfilling rewards in the future. One of the most memorable and motivating interactions I have had happened in high school with my cousin Tom. We were heading home from school one evening when he asked me to be his accountability partner in his journey to lose weight. Tom was overweight and had decided to change his lifestyle to improve his health. He had tried to lose weight before but he was not successful. This time, he asked me to support his journey, which I gladly accepted. We were quite close with him and always had an honest conversation with one another. That evening, he told me that he had done some research and decided that he was going to start first by doing an overhaul of his diet. After we parted ways that evening, I had only one thing on my mind: I needed to fully support my cousin in his journey. While he experienced some setbacks on the way, Tom eventually managed to lose weight and attain a healthier body. Predictors of Behaviors The individuals in the interaction were my cousin and I, and there were some predictors of our behaviors in the interaction. A major predictor of our interaction with one another was the long time we have known one another. Having known and interacted with Tom since childhood, our interaction was influenced by previous experiences that had developed over time. In essence, the strength of the relationship prior to the interaction shaped how we conversed with one another that evening. Since we had known each other for a long time, he knew he could count on me to support his weight loss journey. Therefore, given that we had a trusting relationship that had developed over time, it was easy for Tom to ask me to support him. As revealed by Meijerink-Bosman et al. (2023), apart from the environment and one's personal characteristics, the history of interactions also shapes how we interact with one another. Therefore, Tom told me his plan to lose weight and asked for my support majorly because we had known one another for a long time and had developed a strong bond. Another predictor of behavior in the interaction was the interconnection between personality and environment. According to Rotter's theory of learning, to understand behavior, one must take into account the individual's history of experiences and learning as well as the environment (Mearns, 2021). In essence, Tom's behavior was shaped to a great extent by his interaction with the environment. From this interaction, he perceived weight loss as an important goal to pursue. Given that Rotter perceives personality as behavior and always changeabl...