# Psychological Effects of Sweet Taste and Sweet Taste Preference
## 1 Introduction: A Psychological View of Taste  
Recent theoretical considerations suggest that our cognitions may not be independent from our senses [1]. Our thoughts, impressions, judgements, and feelings can be influenced by basic sensory perception experiences, often more than we want to admit to ourselves. The interaction between cognition and taste may be particularly influential. For example, recent studies showed a link between morality and taste by demonstrating that gustatory disgust affects moral decisions. [PERSON] et al. reported that physical disgust (a bitter taste) evoked feelings of moral disgust, in particular in participants with politically conservative attitudes [2]. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. showed a physiological overlap between oral and moral disgust. They found similar facial motor activity when responding to disgusting pictures, taste disgust, and disgust in moral scenarios. In all three conditions, the levator labii muscle of the participant's face was activated [3]. This finding of overlapping neurophysiological mechanisms in both physical and moral disgust is also supported by neuroimaging studies (e.g., [4]). The idea that morality is based on emotions and bodily sensations is not new and has been discussed in philosophy before. For example, in 1751, [PERSON] argued that moral judgments are based on emotions rather than rational thinking and understanding [5].  
However, whereas the above-mentioned studies point to a relationship between, for example, bitter taste and feelings of moral disgust, other taste types seem to affect cognition and emotional behavior beyond moral thinking. This review focuses on the psychological effects of sweet taste. In contrast to the link between a bitter taste and moral perception, the experience of a sweet taste has been reported to activate mindsets related to prosocial behavior, romantic feelings and approaching attitudes.  
Given that relatively few studies addressed psychological effects of sweet taste, the present work represents a narrative review and does not include a systematic review of the literature. The articles on psychological effects of sweet taste address a specific audience inthe field of psychology; thus, a narrative review for a broader audience may be helpful to enhance our understanding of psychological mechanisms related to the consumption of sweet foods. This understanding is important in respect to its relationship with overweight and obesity in the present day. Therefore, we also briefly discuss the role of sweet taste or sweet taste preference in eating behavior and obesity. Finally, we explore whether the psychological effects described in the beginning might help individuals in controlling their body weight.  
This review considered studies that describe psychological effects of sweet taste experience. For choosing those articles, we used a search strategy examining electronic databases until September 2021 (PubMed, PsycINFO), using search terms sweet AND taste AND (prosocial OR altruistic OR social OR embodiment OR conceptual metaphors OR metaphors OR attraction OR love OR romantic). We had no date limit for our searches. Furthermore, for choosing articles with respect to the relationship between sweet taste preference and obesity, we examined articles based on a search strategy using search terms sweet AND taste AND preference AND (obesity OR overweight).