Humans have a unique affinity for bitter food, like coffee and broccoli. Most other animals interpret a bitter taste as a warning to stay away from a non-edible material, but some humans can't get enough of it. According to a new study, people with the greatest affinity for bitter foods may have more psychopathic and antisocial tendencies. 

    In the study, 500 participants were asked how much they enjoyed different examples of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter foods. Then, they were asked to take a series of personality assessment quizzes to evaluate their aggression, each of the Dark Triad measures (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism), everyday sadism (verbal, physical, and vicarious), as well as Big Five personality traits, which include extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness.

    The researchers found that people who liked bitter foods were also more likely to score highly in measures of psychopathy, sadism, and aggression. In fact, they write, an affinity for bitter foods was a better predicator of personality than any of the other tastes.

    This study adds valuable information to the little explored question of how personality relates to taste preferences. However, understanding what makes a person like a particular food is a complex knot of 15 biology and psychology, influenced by his or her sensitivity to tastes and odors as well as past experiences. Moreover, the study doesn't provide any information about what might cause that preference, is it biology or psychology, or both? This information might be even more valuable than the study at hand.

SOAL SIMAK Ul 2016

What is the author's purpose in writing this passage?