What Your Palate Says About Your Personality

“Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are,” wrote French gastronome Brillat-Savarin nearly two centuries ago. Whether he knew it or not, neuroscience and psychology have been steadily backing him up ever since.

Modern sensory science now offers compelling evidence that your palate isn’t just a matter of taste – it’s a window into your personality. How you react to spicy heat, bitter intensity, or the comforting softness of marshmallow may say far more about you than your social media bio ever could. Speaking of which, social media is abundant with posts featuring food and drink products that express the author’s personality - whether genuine or portrayed.

So join me as we dive into the science behind flavour preferences, personality traits, and even the philosophical wormhole of ‘who am I?’

The Personality–Palate Connection

Oxford University’s Charles Spence has reviewed the growing literature connecting taste preferences and personality traits. His findings reveal strong links between personality characteristics, particularly sensation seeking and openness to experience, and preferences for bold or unusual flavours (Spence, 2022).

People high in these traits are more likely to enjoy spicy, sour, crunchy, or bitter foods. Meanwhile, anxious or highly introverted individuals often exhibit narrower food repertoires, consistent with food neophobia, or the reluctance to try new foods.

According to the Big Five personality model, traits such as openness, extraversion, and neuroticism each correlate with distinct food behaviours. Openness aligns with adventurous, varied diets. Neuroticism, particularly when linked to anxiety, can result in food avoidances or hypersensitivity to taste intensity (Conner et al., 2017; Logue & Smith, 1986).

In short: the adventurous eat boldly, the cautious dine quietly.

Tastebuds, Testosterone, and Triggers

If you're the type who douses everything in hot sauce, there’s evidence your biology may be playing a part. One study linked higher salivary testosterone levels with increased consumption of spicy food, suggesting a hormonal basis for heat-seeking behaviours (Bègue et al., 2015). Spence (2018) also notes that this preference may relate to the ‘masochistic pleasure’ derived from chilli consumption, akin to running a marathon, taking an ice bath, or listening to Justin Bieber.

This tendency fits within the sensation-seeking profile, a well-documented personality trait tied not only to spicy food but also to caffeine intake, alcohol use, and preference for thrilling or novel experiences (Zuckerman et al., 1980; Byrnes & Hayes, 2013).

Meanwhile, those with heightened taste sensitivity, often called supertasters, commonly experience foods more intensely, particularly bitterness. These individuals may dislike certain vegetables, coffee, or hoppy beers, and are often more reactive emotionally and physiologically (Bartoshuk, 2000; Tepper & Nurse, 1997). Interestingly, ‘supertasters’ commonly have a different balance of oral microbiota to non-supertasters - but more on that shortly.

Sweet People, Sweet Preferences?

It’s not just metaphorical to call someone ‘sweet’. Research by Meier et al. (2012) shows that people who enjoy sweet foods tend to exhibit more prosocial behaviours, such as kindness, cooperation, and agreeableness. Participants in their studies rated hypothetical strangers who liked sweets as more agreeable and were more likely to help others after consuming sweet-tasting items themselves.

Tasting something sweet can even temporarily increase romantic interest, optimism, and perceived connection with others (Ren et al., 2015). In contrast, bitter tastes may lead to increased hostility or moral condemnation, as shown by Eskine et al. (2011). That whisky-induced grimace, aka whisky face, may say more than you think.

The Case for Shyness and Smell

Taste is only part of the flavour equation. Smell, often underappreciated in discussions of personality, also has its say.

A study by Herbener, Kagan, and Cohen (1989) found that extremely shy individuals (particularly blue-eyed males) had lower olfactory thresholds, in other words, they were more sensitive to smells. This sensitivity may be linked to higher levels of central norepinephrine, a stress-related neurotransmitter that also modulates smell processing via the olfactory bulb.

This is significant because olfactory sensitivity is thought to reflect broader emotional and physiological reactivity. Shy or introverted people may literally experience flavour more intensely due to heightened smell acuity. Combine that with the mouthfeel and chemical irritation of food (trigeminal input), and you have a personality profile that may be more reactive to flavour in every sense.

Food Neophobia, Neophilia, and the Fear of the Unknown

Food neophobia – the reluctance to try new or unfamiliar foods – is another dimension deeply tied to personality. It correlates strongly with anxiety and low openness (Pliner & Hobden, 1992), and is often seen in people with a cautious or risk-averse outlook.

Conversely, food neophiles, the culinary thrill-seekers, tend to have lower BMIs, healthier diets, and are more motivated by exploration than comfort (Latimer et al., 2015). They also score higher on openness and curiosity and are more likely to try novel textures, smells, and flavour combinations.

The Mood–Taste Feedback Loop

Perhaps the most fascinating twist in this tale is that the relationship is bidirectional. Not only does your personality shape your flavour preferences, flavours also influence your behaviour, decisions, and emotions.

For example:

• Sweet tastes make people feel more romantic and more helpful (Meier et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2019).

• Sour tastes increase risk-taking (Vi & Obrist, 2018).

• Bitter tastes heighten moral outrage (Eskine et al., 2011).

• Mood disorders like depression blunt taste perception, especially sweetness (Steiner et al., 1969; Thomas et al., 2014).

In fact, individuals with high sensitivity to bitter tastes (PROP supertasters) have also been shown to react more intensely to emotional stimuli, such as loud noises or unpleasant images (Herbert et al., 2014). It seems flavour perception and emotional responsiveness are two sides of the same coin.

What Your Palate Says About Your Personality

The science suggests that if you:

• Love spicy food → You’re likely a sensation seeker, bold and open to new experiences.

• Hate bitter food → You might be a supertaster, emotionally sensitive, and averse to risk.

• Adore sweets → You likely score high on agreeableness and prosocial behaviour.

• Avoid unfamiliar foods → You may be anxious or cautious, preferring predictability.

• Love strong-smelling or complex flavours → You’re probably curious, open, and creative.

• Have a sensitive nose or texture aversion → You could be introverted or highly reactive.

The Reasons Are Complex

These aren’t fixed categories, of course. Personal experience, culture, and biology all influence how personality and palate interact. For example, it has been demonstrated how people with a high tamarind diet have higher thresholds for bitter tastes and such thresholds can change with repeated exposure. It’s also true that our thresholds and overall sensitivity to odours and tastes change with age.

When it comes to our biology, however, many factors influence our flavour preferences. Everything from oral ph, salivery proteins, oral enzymes, and even body temperature. Mitochondrial health also plays a pivotal role with regards to the essential neurotransmitter for taste signals – ATP. Something you can read all about in my previous post - The Flavour Gamechanger You’ve Never Heard Of. But the really fascinating influencer could be our microbiota.

The average human body is host to around 38 trillion microorganisms, which are collectively called microbiota. This term refers to communities of infinitesimal organisms that include the bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea, and protozoa, that inhabit particular environments or ecosystems within the body. These are found all over the body including on the skin, in the mouth, gut, nasal passages, and other mucosal surfaces.

For example, the microbiota in the gut act as a bioreactor that aids in nutrient extraction, synthesis of essential non-nutrient factors such as vitamins, and supports the metabolism of complex carbohydrates. These interactions have been associated with our endocrine pathways, neural pathways, and metabolic pathways too. They have even been connected to mood and depression.

In short, our microbiota have a considerable voice at the flavour preference table. So when we associate both personality traits and flavour choices as a part of self-identity, that identity is really the result of a colony of individual organisms working together.

The question is: to what extent do our food choices influence our personality, and vice versa?

The Chicken vs The Egg

Whether you reach for the chilli because you’re naturally gregarious, or you became gregarious because you reach for the chilli, is deliciously tricky to untangle. The relationship between what we eat and who we are is rarely linear. Instead, as we have seen, it’s a looping conversation between biology, experience and culture that nudges behaviour one way, then the other.

If a burn feels exhilarating rather than unbearable, you’re more likely to seek it out. That repeated exposure builds tolerance and, importantly, a reward loop: overcoming that heat can release dopamine and a giddy sense of achievement, which reinforces the behaviour. In short, physiology can predispose you to spicy foods, and that predisposition can look a lot like personality.

But psychology and learning are equally persuasive. Food is social glue, the foods we choose often mirror the groups we want to belong to. If you grew up in a household or community where bold flavours were prized, liking fiery food becomes part of your identity. Likewise, sensation-seekers may self-select both into adventurous social circles and into spice-forward cuisines. Over time, the act of eating spicy food can become a signal: “I’m daring, I’m fun,” and that signal shapes behaviour, conversation style and even how others respond to you.

Then there’s the reverse path: diet shaping temperament. What you eat affects your gut, and your gut talks back to your brain. Diet alters microbiota composition, which in turn can affect neurotransmitter production, inflammation and even stress responses. Diet is also a key player in mitochondrial health and the production of ATP. Put simply, some foods promote mitochondrial health whilst others negatively impact it.

Practical takeaways? Don’t oversimplify. Your palate is part nature, part nurture, part culture, and part chosen identity. If you’re a product developer or brand storyteller, the opportunity is to use that complexity: frame spicy products as identity builders, design experiences that pair heat with rewarding rituals, and test how changing intensity alters user behaviour. Recognising the psychological layers beneath taste preferences opens new doors, whether you’re designing a whisky, launching a food brand, or simply hosting a tasting.

Final Thoughts: Flavour as Self-Discovery

At The Sensory Advantage, we believe flavour is more than perception — it’s personality, memory, and emotion all rolled into one. The growing body of research connecting flavour sensitivity and personality traits supports what sensory professionals intuitively know: the way we taste is deeply human, and deeply personal.

So next time you recoil from brussel sprouts or reach for the darkest espresso on the shelf, take a moment to reflect. Are you chasing intensity? Craving comfort? Or avoiding chaos?

Your palate might be saying more about you than you realise.

References

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• Bègue, L., et al. (2015). Some like it hot: testosterone predicts laboratory eating behavior of spicy food. Physiology & Behavior, 139, 375–377.

• Byrnes, N.K. & Hayes, J.E. (2013). Personality factors predict spicy food liking and intake. Food Quality and Preference, 28(1), 213–221.

• Conner, T.S., et al. (2017). The role of personality traits in young adult fruit and vegetable consumption. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 119.

• Eskine, K.J., et al. (2011). A bad taste in the mouth: gustatory disgust influences moral judgment. Psychological Science, 22(3), 295–299.

• Herbert, C., et al. (2014). Supertasting modulates affective startle responses. Appetite, 75, 50–56.

• Herbener, E.S., Kagan, J., & Cohen, M. (1989). Shyness and olfactory threshold. Personality and Individual Differences, 10(11), 1159–1163.

• Latimer, L.A., et al. (2015). Food neophilia: traits and behaviours. Appetite, 91, 180–190.

• Logue, A.W. & Smith, M.E. (1986). Preferences for different foods as a function of sensation seeking. Appetite, 7(2), 109–118.

• Meier, B.P., Moeller, S.K., & Chen, J.J. (2012). Sweet taste preferences and personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 536–551.

• Pliner, P. & Hobden, K. (1992). Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans. Appetite, 19(2), 105–120.

• Ren, D., et al. (2015). Sweet love: the effects of sweet taste experience on romantic perceptions. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(6), 619–626.

• Spence, C. (2022). What is the link between personality and food behavior? Current Research in Food Science, 5, 19–27.

• Steiner, J.E., et al. (1969). Taste perception in depression. Biological Psychiatry, 22(12), 1481–1485.

• Thomas, J.M., et al. (2014). Taste sensitivity in depression. Psychiatry Research, 215(3), 737–741.

• Vi, C. & Obrist, M. (2018). Sour promotes risk-taking: the impact of taste on decision-making. Scientific Reports, 8, 798.

• Wang, X., et al. (2019). Sweet taste and romantic behaviour. Appetite, 140, 122–129.

• Zuckerman, M., et al. (1980). Sensation seeking and its measurement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46(1), 139–149.