Delaying Gratification Inventory (DGI-35 and DGI-10)

The DGI measures individual differences in gratification delay, or the tendency to pursue immediate versus later, greater rewards. It can be administered as a long form (DGI-35) or short form (DGI-10). The measure's theoretical factor structure was derived from six decades of prior literature and covers delay behavior across five domains: food, physical pleasures, social interactions, money, and achievement. Prior measures of delay of gratification, as well as related constructs such as delay discounting, tend to require in-depth experimental procedures and/or use surveys with limitations related to reliability, validity, scope, or item wording. The DGI has been used with >10,000 participants worldwide and translated into many languages.

Administration and Scoring

Instructions, items, and scoring (no frills) |DOC|
Handout for paper-and-pencil administration and scoring, with norms table |DOC|
SPSS Syntax |SPS|
Primary article with items and scoring on p. 4. Note that the original publication included a typo; item 13 should NOT be reverse coded. This has been corrected in all documents posted on this website. |PDF|

Evidence of Reliability and Validity

The DGI has been used extensively and has well-documented reliability and validity. We have provided a detailed list of all published studies using the DGI |DOC|

Permission to Use

No permission is required to use our measures.
Free! Our team has developed several survey measures over the years. Most of these measures were developed with the support of federal, state, intramural, and foundation funds, so they are available free of charge.
Modifications? You are welcome to make modifications to "improve" our measures for your population and research question if under the guidance of a psychologist or other professional with expertise in psychometrics. Please note any changes in the methods section of resulting manuscripts.