Ah, gin.
Henry Rollins once said that it is “cold, intoxicating. Gives you a rush, makes you warm inside, makes you lose your head. Take too much, it makes you sick and shuts you down.”
Which, considering he’s speaking about one of our absolute favourite tipples, seems more than a little negative.
However, according to psychology experts, Rollins was definitely on to something.
A study conducted by researchers from Innsbruck University in Austria has found that those of us who love to sip on a gin-and-tonic are far more likely to have psychopathic tendencies than those who enjoy something sweeter.
“Bitter taste preferences are linked to malevolent personality traits,” they explained.
Hey, they don’t call it Mother’s Ruin for nothing.
To uncover this unsettling information, the researchers conducted two separate experiments on 1,000 people.
For the first, they asked 500 participants to examine a long list of food and drinks, ranking how much they liked each of them on a six-point scale.
They were then asked to complete four separate personality questionnaires, which measured their levels of aggression, Machiavellianism, emotional stability, and tendency towards ‘everyday sadism’.
This involved rating on a scale how much they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “When making fun of someone, it is especially amusing if they realise what I'm doing”, and “I enjoy tormenting people”.
Researchers then repeated the experiment with another sample of 500 people, which confirmed the results of the first.
This means that people who enjoy bitter food and drinks, such as coffee, gin-and-tonic, radishes, dark chocolate, and citrus fruits, are more likely to display tendencies of “Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and everyday sadism”.
A fun mixture of traits, if we ever heard one.
Researchers weren’t examining why psychopaths prefer bitter foods; however, the study’s author, Christina Sagioglou, did have an explanation - in the wild, poisonous foods tend to taste bitter, which is why so many of us are naturally averse to them.
However one of the primary traits of a psychopath is a sense of fearless bravado – a sort of arrogant confidence that comes into play when bold action is requited.
“Everyday sadism is a construct related to benign Masochism - the enjoyment of painful activities - which was first described and investigated by psychologist Paul Rozin," said Sagioglou.
“To quote Paul Rozin for an explanation: ‘For the case of innately aversive foods, there may be pleasure from the fact that the body is signalling rejection, but the person knows there is no real threat’.”
Read more: the rise of gin snobbery
If you’re a big fan of G&T, however, don’t despair: psychopathic tendencies aren’t all bad.
Oxford research psychologist Kevin Dutton has found that their bold temperaments makes psychopaths more likely to be intelligent, assertive, and cool under pressure – which naturally makes them strong leaders.
They also tend not to take things personally, nor do they beat themselves up when things go wrong, choosing instead to focus on the positives.
And, finally, they are more likely to avoid procrastination than others (that’s us out of the running, then).
undefined
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.