Are you one in every of those individuals who prefer an excellent strong, freshly-roasted black coffee over a cappuccino, or do you crave the extraordinary taste of 90 per cent dark chocolate over white or milk?
How about during an evening out? Would you reach for a negroni or gin and tonic over a glass of sweet moscato or a juicy tequila sunrise?
Well, now we have some bad news.
Should you end up leaving towards foods with any such bitter flavor profile, it would reveal a dark truth.
People on social media have been losing their minds in recent weeks over a 2016 study that looked into a person’s taste preferences and what this said about their personality.
Experts have warned that folks who enjoy bitter foods could have a really dark side to them and will exhibit psychopathic, anti-social and sadistic personality traits.
Researchers from the University of Innsbruck in Austria investigated the taste preferences of 953 Americans for the groundbreaking study.
The participants were asked about their partiality for sweet, sour, salty and bitter food and beverages.
These same people then had to reply 4 different personality surveys that assessed anti-social personality traits corresponding to psychopathy, narcissism, aggression and sadism.
The outcomes of the study found that there was a major link between the “increased enjoyment of bitter foods and heightened sadistic proclivities”.
Bitter foods included things like gin and tonics, black coffee and dark chocolate.
“In two studies, we investigated how bitter taste preferences is likely to be related to anti-social personality traits,” the study’s abstract read.
“Two US American community samples self-reported their taste preferences using two complementary preference measures and answered a variety of personality questionnaires assessing Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, on a regular basis sadism, trait aggression, and the Big Five aspects of personality.
“The outcomes of each studies confirmed the hypothesis that bitter taste preferences are positively related to malevolent personality traits, with probably the most robust relation to on a regular basis sadism and psychopathy.”
I do know what you’re considering. We’ve all heard of psychopaths, but what the hell is ‘on a regular basis sadism’?
In keeping with Psychology Today, the term refers to a one who “takes pleasure from extraordinary experiences by which cruelty is vicarious”.
On a regular basis sadists normally take pleasure in hurting others or watching their suffering.
These individuals may also enjoy watching gory movies, they find physical fights exciting and think the act of torture is interesting.
As for psychopaths, studies have suggested that as many as 1 in 22 people could have this condition, meaning we’re prone to walk past loads of these individuals as we go about our day.
Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioural controls, commonly end in persistent anti-social deviance and criminal behaviour.
But before you pour your bottle of gin down the sink or chuck your block of dark chocolate within the bin, the researchers warned that any such investigation into studying the correlation between taste preferences and personality is in its infancy.
They said that while some connection may be established, “evidence continues to be scarce” and simply because someone enjoys bitter foods, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll exhibit those aforementioned traits.
The researchers also acknowledged the vital distinction between preference and practice.
They highlighted that some people will avoid eating desired foods which are expensive or fattening, while consuming other foods to be social or healthy.
Additionally they note that popular food items corresponding to chilli pepper, beer, wine, and occasional are initially aversive, yet develop into acquired tastes through exposure and social consequences.
There may be also the problem of food sensitivity, in addition to experience, which might occasionally resulting from inadvertent consumption – for instance, mistaking wasabi for avocado.
Interestingly, other studies have claimed that folks preferring sweet-testing foods may exhibit more “prosocial behaviors,” which include positive acts corresponding to helping, sharing, and caring for others.
It will be significant to not self-diagnose or diagnose others with personality disorders. Should you, or a loved one, are battling mental health, please seek help from an expert.