Young adults and college students are often working toward goals that take months or years. Degrees, careers, health, financial stability, and personal growth usually depend on delayed rewards.
At the same time, entertainment and distractions are available immediately. This can create a conflict between what feels rewarding now and what will matter later (MacKillop et al., 2011) (Weinsztok et al., 2021).
A note on how this chapter uses the research: the studies cited here examine reward, impulsivity, habit, and addiction more broadly. They were not all conducted with college students. The connections to college life below are my own application of those ideas to situations many young adults recognize.
Four places this shows up
Motivation
A long-term goal may feel less exciting when faster rewards are constantly available.
Focus
Repeated interruptions can make it difficult to stay with one uncomfortable task.
Consistency
A person may begin with strong motivation but struggle when progress does not feel rewarding quickly.
Self-control
Immediate comfort can feel stronger in the moment even when the person still cares about the future consequence.
Habit research adds that these choices are usually tied to a setting rather than made from scratch each time. When the same context keeps returning, the same response tends to return with it (Wood & Rünger, 2016).
You have an assignment due tomorrow.
Choice A
Begin the assignment. The reward is delayed, but progress builds.
Choice B
Choose entertainment. The reward is immediate, but the assignment remains.
The purpose of this example is not to make one choice seem morally bad. It shows why the timing of a reward can influence a decision.
Wanting to change is not the same as being able to.
This is part of why someone can genuinely care about a goal and still feel stuck. The next chapter looks at what the research suggests can make change more realistic.
Sources Used on This Page
MacKillop, J., Amlung, M. T., Few, L. R., Ray, L. A., Sweet, L. H., & Munafò, M. R. (2011). Delayed reward discounting and addictive behavior: A meta-analysis. Psychopharmacology, 216(3), 305–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2229-0
Weinsztok, S., Brassard, S., Balodis, I., Martin, L. E., & Amlung, M. (2021). Delay discounting in established and proposed behavioral addictions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15, Article 786358. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.786358
Wood, W., & Rünger, D. (2016). Psychology of habit. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 289–314. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417
Image credit: Original illustration created for this project by the author.