I drink coffee. I love the coffee.
The type of coffee you order may reveal more about your personality than you think.
Having a good cup of coffee is more than just about milk or sugar; sometimes it is a whole ritual passed on from mother to daughter, from father to son. From the Ethiopian countryside where coffee was first discovered, to the baroque cafes of imperial Europe and the office streets of Tel Aviv, coffee has adapted to almost every culture, infiltrating even tea-loving countries such as India and UK.
Coffee is the world’s second most popular drink after water, with over 2,611 billion cups of coffee consumed daily worldwide. Within this framework, each one of us still has his/her own way of drinking their cup of coffee.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula recently conducted an observational study of 1,000 coffee drinkers. The survey assessed numerous common personality styles and psychological traits including introversion and extraversion; patience; perfectionism; warmth; vigilance; sensitivity; and social boldness, among others.
In the survey, which is described in Dr. Durvasula’s book entitled You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life, people were given common scenarios that we all find ourselves in: how we approach waiting in long lines, how we plan dinner parties or what our typical weekends look like. Participants were asked to choose from a series of approaches to these scenarios. The survey also asked if they drink coffee and what they typically ordered. The results were not that surprising.
Research found that the black coffee drinkers were straight up, straightforward and no-nonsense individuals. The double decaf, soy, extra-foamy folks tended to be more obsessive, controlling, and detail-oriented. The latte drinkers tended more toward neurotic and people-pleasing, while the instant coffee drinkers had a greater likelihood of being procrastinators. Finally, those individuals who order sweet drinks were the overgrown kids who retained the taste buds and sensibilities of children, while being young at heart.
In a larger sense, though, the choices we make in life often speak volumes about us. Sometimes we make “choices” without thinking like robots. Sometimes our choices in life essentially shape who we are for better or worse. People pleasers, who may try to manage the bitterness of coffee with a little milk, may also try to please others, which can be dangerous if one is always selfless and unassertive when communicating their needs, wants and desires.
Our personalities influence all spheres of our lives — our relationships, our jobs, our perceptions, our attitudes — and obviously will influence our choices. Some people are afraid of making the wrong choice, so in the interim feel safer choosing inaction, which speaks louder than any potential decision rendered.
So stretch out your psyche from time to time, and become a little less resistant to change. Perhaps a great, albeit small, place to start is changing up your usual order next time you go out for coffee. Or, the next time you are in the driver’s seat, don’t be so quick to fire up your GPS.
No matter how different we are, how our history and local culture vary, our love for coffee has no boundaries. It is the most common denominator. When it comes to coffee, we are all big fans, everywhere. Coffee is an important part of our life, and so many beautiful and memorable moments are formed over a cup of coffee, that I am sure each one of you has such a moment to share!
And if you wonder what good coffee tastes like, an old Turkish proverb says “Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love”.
Now tell me, how do you drink your coffee? 🙂
