Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Psychophysical Tracking Method to Measure Taste Preferences in Children and Adults
Published on: July 16, 2016
The bitter with the sweet: the taste/stress/temperament nexus
1Department of Psychology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041, USA. dessnk@oxy.edu
Abstract:
Is the tongue a window to the psyche? In rats, stress alters taste, and individual differences in taste are related to measures of emotion. The present study concerned stress-induced changes in taste and its modulation by temperament in people. College students rated saccharin's bitterness and sweetness and a tone's loudness after exposure to a mild stressor. Temperament (trait arousability, pleasure, and dominance) was assessed separately. When individual differences were ignored, stress appeared to selectively increase sensitivity to saccharin's bitterness. However, the stressor's impact was modulated by temperament: Stress nonselectively augmented stimulus magnitude ratings among highly arousable individuals; relative to high-pleasure counterparts, low-pleasure individuals gave higher bitterness ratings and lower sweetness ratings after stress. Taste does seem to provide a glimpse of the emotional life of humans and other animals and opens new avenues to the study of the biological bases of affect.
Related Concept Videos
Gustation
Taste Buds and Receptors
The Physiology of Taste
Tension
Psychological Responses to Stress
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques II
Type A Personality: Driven and Easily Stressed
Individuals with Type A personalities are often highly competitive and ambitious and operate with a strong sense of urgency. Commonly labeled as "workaholics," they...

