A recent study in the Journal of Research in Personality provides evidence of a link between people’s taste preferences and personality traits. The study, conducted across four different countries, suggests that individuals who have a strong liking for sweet foods also tend to be more agreeable. This relationship was small but consistent across participants in China, Germany, Mexico, and the United States, indicating that this connection may be present in diverse cultural backgrounds.
The researchers behind the new study sought to better understand how abstract qualities like kindness or sociability might be associated with concrete sensory experiences, such as taste. One theory, called conceptual metaphor theory, suggests that people often use metaphors that link physical experiences with personality traits. Terms like “sweet” and “sweetie” are commonly used to describe kind or agreeable people, which may create a mental association between sweetness and warmth or friendliness.
Given that past research had already hinted at a link between sweet taste preferences and agreeableness, the team wanted to test if this association was consistent across cultures. If confirmed, this finding could suggest that these metaphorical connections might have a deeper, possibly universal foundation.
“Previous studies already suggested a relationship between agreeableness and sweet taste preferences, but these were done with participants of the United States. Thus, we were wondering whether these findings hold for different cultures and languages,” explained study author Michael Schaefer, a professor at Medical School Berlin.
To conduct their study, the researchers recruited a total of 1,629 participants from four different countries. Each participant completed questionnaires assessing their level of agreeableness and their taste preferences, focusing particularly on sweet tastes. The agreeableness measure included questions about how much participants resonated with statements like “I make people feel at ease,” and responses were recorded on a scale from one (very inaccurate) to five (very accurate). This self-reported score helped create an overall agreeableness rating for each individual.
Participants also completed a detailed survey about their taste preferences. They were asked to rate how much they liked various sweet foods like chocolate cake, ice cream, and honey, as well as foods from other taste categories, including salty, sour, bitter, and spicy. This approach allowed the researchers to determine whether participants had a specific preference for sweet foods or simply enjoyed a variety of tastes.
Participants were also given an option to say they had never tasted a specific item to avoid skewing the results based on unfamiliarity. Each country’s questionnaire was translated into the local language to ensure clarity, and participants were either compensated with course credits or a small cash payment, depending on the country.
The results of the study showed that, across all four countries, there was indeed a positive relationship between agreeableness and a preference for sweet tastes. Although the effect sizes were small, they were consistent. In China, for instance, there was a correlation coefficient of 0.18 between agreeableness and preference for sweet foods, while in Germany, the coefficient was 0.16. In the United States, it was 0.15, and in Mexico, the result was similar at 0.10.
This means that, while the association between agreeableness and a preference for sweets was not especially strong, it was statistically significant in all cases. Additionally, the researchers noted that people with higher agreeableness scores in each country also reported a higher preference for sweet flavors compared to the other tastes they were asked to evaluate.
The study’s findings support the idea that the link between sweet preferences and agreeableness might not only be a quirk of American culture but could also extend across different languages, lifestyles, and cultural norms. This consistency across nations points to the possibility of a universal cognitive association between the concept of “sweetness” and the personality trait of agreeableness.
“Previous studies also suggest that the experience of sweet taste makes people more helpful in their actual behavior,” Schaefer told PsyPost. “However, I think we should be careful when drawing conclusions for everyday life out of these results, especially when considering that the correlations (although significant) are relatively low. So, if we realize on a first date that the other person doesn’t like sweets, we don’t need to look for someone else. What we might take away from these findings is that our thinking and behavior (our personality) is often linked to experiences and sensations in an unconscious way.”
There was no consistent or significant association between agreeableness and preferences for sour or bitter across the samples. However, in three of the four samples (China, Germany, and Mexico), there was a small positive correlation between agreeableness and preference for salty tastes. There was also a small positive correlation between agreeableness and preference for spicy tastes in the Chinese sample.
“We were surprised that we also found relationships of agreeableness with salty taste or spicy taste, but only for some cultures,” Schaefer said. “This is very interesting and was not expected by us.”
Despite the intriguing results, the study some limitations to consider. For instance, because the study was correlational, it’s impossible to say for certain that one causes the other. For instance, people who are agreeable might prefer sweet foods, but it’s also possible that some unrelated factor makes agreeable people more likely to enjoy sweets. Additionally, the researchers relied on self-reported data, which can sometimes be unreliable as people may unconsciously exaggerate or understate their traits and preferences.
“As always, we should be careful when drawing conclusion for everyday life,” Schaefer said.
Future research could look at other personality traits and their possible connections to different tastes. It would also be valuable to use methods beyond self-reporting, such as observing taste preferences in a controlled environment or comparing self-reports with peer evaluations. Additionally, exploring cultures with distinct interpretations of sweetness could offer insights into whether this association is truly universal or culturally specific.
“We want to understand the relationship between the body, the external world and the mind, in particular to understand unconscious influences on our behavior and personality,” Schaefer explained.
The study, “Cross-cultural evidence for an association between agreeableness and sweet taste preferences,” was authored by Brian P. Meier, Michael Schaefer, Li-Jun Ji, and Carlota Batres.
