Associations between temperamental personality and taste preferences in a non-clinical population

Abstract

The relationship between taste preferences and individual differences in terms of personality has not been thoroughly examined, especially in non-clinical populations. The current study aimed to examine these possible associations between temperamental personality dimensions and taste. A further aim was to investigate relationships between self-rated “usual” taste preferences and “actual” taste preferences for six food samples manipulated by basic taste (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, spicy, and umami). Data is reported for 150 participants from a non-clinical population. The Tri-dimensional Personality Questionnaire was used to measure temperamental personality, and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire was employed to assess constructs of eating behaviour. Usual taste preference was measured via 100 mm VAS and actual taste preference was measured using six food samples manipulated by taste, rated on 100 mm VAS. Interesting relationships were revealed in terms of temperamental personality and taste preferences. For example, participants high in novelty seeking showed strong preference for salty tastes, whereas participants high in reward dependence showed strong preference for sweet tastes. These relationships were further explored using regression analysis and models of “best fit” were developed. Usual self-reported taste preferences were found to positively correlate with their corresponding actual taste preferences (with the exception of bitter), suggesting that self-rated usual taste preference provides accurate measures of actual taste preference.