instant gratification
Wanting it now
Instant gratification is the desire for immediate pleasure or reward rather than waiting for a delayed benefit.
The term often carries disapproval, implying impatience or lack of discipline: We live in a culture of instant gratification.
Psychology contrasts it with delayed gratification—the ability to resist smaller immediate rewards for larger future ones: Children who can delay gratification tend to have better life outcomes.
- impulseSudden urge to act
- hedonismPursuit of gratification
- guilty pleasureEnjoyment tinged with shame
- rushQuick sudden movement
- dopamineReward-linked neural messenger
one-click buying · addiction · reward system · pleasure principle · consumerism · gambling · regret · procrastination · cognitive bias · retail therapy · fast fashion · treat yourself · digital culture · swipe right · streaming platforms · FOMO · short attention span · emotional regulation
- bad decisionsprocrastination, impulse buying, overspending, binge eating, cramming
- impulsivityimpulsiveness, impulsivity, rashness, recklessness, hastiness
- indulgencesindulgence, indulgences, chocolate cake, overindulgence, massage
- Money Beliefsfrugality, materialism, consumerism, thrift, financial independence
- money mindsetsfrugal, thrifty, generous, stingy, greedy
- time preferencediscounting, impatience, immediacy, self-control, impulsivity
instant gratificationdelayed gratification
Postponing pleasure for benefit
patience · long-term thinking · waiting · long-term planning · compound interest
instant gratificationself-discipline
Regulating one's own behavior
self-control · restraint · impulse control · willpower · temperance
instant gratificationdeep satisfaction
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