# Spicy Personality: On the Relationship Between Personality Traits and the Preference for Spicy Foods

## TL;DR

This paper explores how personality traits influence people's preference for spicy foods, beyond genetic and cultural factors.

## Contribution

The paper highlights that personality traits, such as sensation-seeking, play a significant role in the preference for spicy foods.

## Key findings

- Personality traits influence spicy food preference more than basic taste preferences linked to health.
- Sensation-seeking and reward sensitivity are key personality factors driving spicy food liking.
- Cross-cultural studies show that personality shapes tolerance for pungency beyond cultural exposure.

## Abstract

This narrative historical review assesses the relationship between personality traits and the preference for spicy foods. While genetic, cultural, and personality factors have all been shown to influence taste preferences, the evidence that has been published to date suggests that personality plays a greater role in the liking and consumption of spicy food than for those basic tastes linked to the essential elements of a healthy diet. Archaeological and historical data illustrate the global dissemination and cultural integration of Capsicum into the human diet. Meanwhile, physiological and psychophysical research highlight that the pungent quality of capsaicin, together with the gustatory and olfactory cues associated with the flavour of chilli, affects hedonic evaluation, with repeated exposure often increasing acceptance through a process of desensitisation. Developmental factors, such as prenatal taste/flavour transmission and benign risk learning during childhood, underpin adult preferences. Cross-cultural studies reveal that the tolerance for pungency varies by country/culture and is also markedly shaped by personality traits. Recent social media trends have also increased some people’s exposure to very spicy foods, linked to their sensation-seeking tendencies. As such, those theories that focus solely on biological sensitivity and cultural exposure likely fail to capture personality-driven factors like sensation seeking and reward sensitivity that drive the liking for spicy foods.