Cross-cultural evidence for an association between agreeableness and sweet taste preferences

Abstract

Research has shown that a preference for sweet foods is associated with agreeableness. This association may be due to conceptual metaphors (a “sweetie”) that link sweet taste experiences to niceness. We examined the replicability and cross-cultural consistency of this effect in four samples from different countries (China, Germany, Mexico, & the U.S.). Participants (N = 1,629) completed a measure of agreeableness and two measures of sweet taste preferences. We found that agreeableness was significantly and positively correlated with two different measures of sweet taste preferences in all four samples with small effect sizes (rs = 0.10 to 18). The association between agreeableness and a sweet taste preference appears replicable and occurring across cultures at least in the samples studied.