What We Know About The Link Between Food Choices & Personality, Based On Research

Isn't it funny how we use words like "sweet" and "bitter" to describe different people? Take it as no coincidence; researchers have long suspected (and looked for) a link between personality traits and food choices.

He looked at dozens of existing studies for repeating patterns, with one of his most prominent findings being that people who are sensation-seekers (aka thrill-seekers) tend to prefer spicy foods, and potentially even sour and crunchy foods, more than those who behave more cautiously.

Novelty-seekers, or those who like to try new things versus more conservative folk, also show an enhanced liking for salty foods, he writes.

And in the case of people who are more worry-prone, they tend to display a limited range of food tastes (like your quintessential picky eater), while those who are open to new experiences tend to enjoy a wider range of foods.

Spence notes that biological factors like our sense of smell (which differs from person to person), as well as hormones, can also influence our personality. However, he says, these factors haven't been linked with "any very specific predictions concerning likely food preferences."

Further, there's a strong, bidirectional relationship between mood and taste, with mood affecting our taste perception, and tasting certain foods affecting our mood—and even our behavior.