If you’ve ever been on a coffee date with someone who chose black coffee over the typical indulgent caffeinated creation, you might want to take your latte and run. Apparently, you’re on a date with a psychopath.

如果你去和一个人约会，结果这个人喜欢喝黑咖啡，而不是其他那些常见的咖啡饮料，那你可能就该马上拿着自己的拿铁跑路了。显然，你正在和一个精神病患者约会。

A new study from the University of Innsbruck in Austria found that people who prefer their coffee black often have psychopathic or sadistic tendencies.

奥地利的因斯布鲁克大学的一项新研究发现，那些喜欢黑咖啡的人更可能有精神病或虐待狂的倾向。

The study, published in the journal Appetite, surveyed over 1,000 adults about their flavor preferences. They also took four different personality tests that assessed machiavellian traits like narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, and aggression.

这项研究被发表在《胃口》这本期刊上，它调查了超过1000名成年人的口味偏好。他们同时也测量了这些人的四项负面人格特质：自恋、精神病、虐待欲和进攻性。

Researchers found a trend that suggested a correlation between preferences for black coffee, and other bitter tastes, and sadistic or psychopathic personality traits. Find out the best ways to spot a narcissist before it’s too late!

研究者们发现，对黑咖啡以及其他苦味的偏好，与虐待欲和精神病这两项人格特质成正相关。现在，我们终于能在一切太晚之前就发现精神病了。

They also found that people who enjoyed milky or sugary coffee, and other sweet flavors, generally tended to have more “agreeable” personality traits like sympathy, cooperation, and kindness.

他们还发现，那些喜欢奶味咖啡、甜味咖啡以及其他甜味道的人，总体来说更可能具备一些更“招人喜欢”的人格特质：同情心、合作以及善良。

The closest correlation found in the study was between bitter foods, like radishes and tonic water, and “everyday sadism,” or the enjoyment of inflicting moderate levels of pain on others.

这项研究中发现的最紧密的关联是：“对萝卜、汤力水等苦味的喜爱”和“日常虐待”之间的关系，所谓的日常虐待指的是喜欢给别人施加轻度的痛苦（给人添堵）。

Yikes.

哎哟。

The researchers went further, suggesting that this association between bitter foods and psychopathic tendencies could “become chronic” and get worse with time.

研究人员还进一步指出，这种苦味偏好和精神病倾向之间的联系可能变成一种长期问题，而且会随着时间推移越来越糟。

Not a great first impression.

给人留下这样的第一印象肯定不太好。

But there is hope for you and your casual coffee date. The researchers made it clear that “bitter” is an extremely subjective term, and that may have limited their study. They also are unsure of what causes the correlation between bitter tastes and disagreeable personality traits.

不过，你的咖啡约会也不是毫无希望。研究者们澄清道：“苦”是一个非常主观的词汇，而这可能限制了他们的这项研究。而且他们也不清楚是什么造成了苦味偏好和负面人格特质之间的关联。

It’s also important to note that taste preferences are intensely influenced by our culture and personal experiences—not entirely by our personality traits—and that taste preferences often change over time. Remember when you couldn’t stand the taste of veggies as a kid? Most people don’t even like coffee the first time they try it!

有一个很重要的点需要指出：口味偏好在很大程度上是受文化和个人经历影响的——而不是完全取决于人格特质——而且口味偏好常常能随着时间发生改变。

Black coffee drinkers are also more health-conscious, even if they don’t know it. Pure coffee has all kinds of amazing health benefits, while milk and sugar obviously don’t. People who drink their coffee black reap all the health benefits of coffee without any added fat or calories.

爱喝黑咖啡的人其实也更注重健康，即使他们本人可能并不知情。纯咖啡有很多很棒的健康功效，而牛奶和糖显然没有。喝黑咖啡能获得咖啡里所有的好处，而不摄入多余的脂肪和卡路里。

So while you’re on your coffee date, just remember that not all psychopaths like black coffee. But most people who like black coffee exhibit psychopathic tendencies. See the difference?

所以，当你去约会喝咖啡的时候，请记住，不是所有的精神病都爱喝黑咖啡，只是爱喝黑咖啡的人更容易表现出精神病倾向。看出区别了吗？

Bottom line, maybe skip the coffee altogether and just go for dinner and a movie instead.

退一万步讲，或许你们干脆就别去喝咖啡了，改成吃晚饭或者看电影吧。

（翻译：能猫）