# Psychological Effects of Sweet Taste and Sweet Taste Preference
## 3 Being a Sweetie: Sweet Taste and Prosocial Behavior  
Recent research also reported relationships of taste experience with prosocial behavior. In a series of experiments [PERSON] et al. found evidence for the assumption that sweet taste may work as a source domain for prosocial functioning [21]. For example, in one of their experiments, the authors invited students to participate in a \"research study on taste\". They asked participants to either try a sweet (a small piece of milk chocolate) or a non-sweet snack (a cracker containing no sugar), or they assigned them randomly to a non-food control condition, and told them that they should later comment on that food. The participants were given 30 s to taste the snack and afterwards were asked to complete an unrelated questionnaire for one minute. When the participants finished their questionnaire, an experimenter informed them about another professor who had just stopped by, requesting volunteers for another (unrelated) study. The experimenter asked each participant how many minutes he or she would be willing to help in this experiment, and told them that the new study would start immediately upon completion of the food taste experiment. This measure served to provide information about the prosocial intentions and behavior of the participants. It should be noted that this request was placed before the consumed sugar of the snacks could be metabolized. Finally, participants evaluated the sweetness of the snacks and reported on their current mood states. Results revealed that those participants who tried the sweet snack before showed more prosocial intentions (offered more minutes to help) than the individuals in the control condition. These results were independent of the reported mood states. Thus, the experience of sweet taste made the participants more helpful. Subsequent studies could replicate and extend these findings. [PERSON] et al. examined within-person cross-day relationships between acting more prosocial and the consumption of sweet food. In two independent studies, the authors found that agreeableness levels were higher on days when sweet food consumption increased [22; 23]. Another study examined German participants with the food-tasting paradigm described before, and showed--in two experiments--that the experience of sweet food (in comparisons to salty snacks or no food) increased prosocial intentions and behavior. There were no differences with respect to the overall likings of sweet vs. salty snacks and groups did not differ with respect to mood [18] (see Figure 2). Research also reported relationships between personality traits and sweetness, suggesting that individuals who prefer sweet food are more prosocial and agreeable. [PERSON] et al. reported that participants with the personality of liking sweet-tasting foods exhibited not only prosocial intentions, but also concrete helping behavior [21]. Thus, individuals having a \"sweet tooth\" might have more prosocial personality traits. However, these effects seem rather small, and it is unclear whether they are culture-dependent [24]. How can these effects be explained? As pointed out above, the conceptual metaphor theory argues that language may explain these embodiment effects. Figures, such as conceptual metaphors (in contrast to mere linguistic metaphors) may be grounded in our mindsets and thereby affect our thinking [7; 8; 9; 10]. Sweetness is not only a taste, but also a metaphor. In many languages, this metaphor points to the meaning that love is sweet, suggesting a relationship between romantic love and sweet taste that we addressed in the previous chapter. In the English language however, there is also a second meaning of the sweet metaphor, which links sweetness with prosocial behavior. Being a \"sweetie\" means that this individual is a very helpful person. The term sweetness here refers to someone who is kind, friendly, and caring for others.