Popular Science magazine  may have an extremely interesting story for me to tell. As someone who adores spicy food – Mexican, Indian, whatever the origin, the spicier the better in my eyes (stomach?).  Written by Jennifer Abbasi, she proposes that a love for spicy food is no longer simply just a cultural upbringing, but draws a connection to your personality.

She explains that in recent years, culinary psychologists (yes, they exist) have dove into the idea that there are both biological and cultural reasoning to the food we eat – spicy food in particular. Among possible reasons are elicit pain, societal norms, or even oral anatomy.  Abbasi quotes Nadia Byrnes and John Hayes both staff here at Penn State’s School of Agricultural Sciences. They say that even something has obscure as chili gives off a burning sensation that is pleasant to certain people, leaving them wanting more. Byrnes and Hayes explored the chili lovers in a large study utilizing oral receptors. Their pool avoided gender and age biases and consisted of ninety-seven participants between ages 18 to 45. The participants filled out questionnaires and rated the sensations on intensity. The study concluded that there was no association between high spicy eaters and “feeling the burn” from the receptor, which may prove that personality truly does play a key role. In other words, the individuals who enjoy spicy foods don’t feel the sensation less than those who don’t like spicy foods, they just seem to enjoy it more.

Byrnes and Hayes don’t rule out childhood exposure and education as possibilities. I personally feel it has a lot to do with open-mindedness.  For me at least, spicy foods were an acquired taste. I never really cared for them until a few years ago.  The researchers also nod to the fact that many individuals’ taste buds grow and mature as time goes on.

An even more recent study  than the one mentioned above associates spicy foods with risk takers! They are seen as “sensation seekers” by the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting. This study was coincidentally done by Penn State’s staff again, Nadia Byrnes and John Hayes; this time testing 200 people on their level of risk behavior and assessing their enjoyment of intense spiciness. This is an interesting test, because people raised in the United States are brought up around spicy foods, so they may be seen as risk takers. However, if this study were done in Asia this would probably be close to normal and wouldn’t describe personality.

In my mind this makes complete sense.  When I sit back and think about the people I know who love spicy food they come from culturally diverse backgrounds where spices and robust combinations of flavors reign in their home. There are also the people who are willing to try anything once, and therefore they go into eating things with a positive attitude.