What your coffee says about you…
The type of coffee you order may reveal more about your personality than you think.
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.
What did the survey reveal about different coffee drinkers’ personalities?
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.
Take a look at this coffee summary that was compiled from his book, and see where you might fall: At the same time, while the results are interesting and perhaps spot on to some degree, don’t take the results to heart, as some people may fall in between, and certain personality types might not jive with how one drinks their coffee on a daily basis.
Black coffee
Old school
Purist
Keep things simple
Patient
Efficient
Can be quiet and moody
Abrupt and dismissive
Sort of set in their ways
Resistant to making changes
Latte drinkers (folks who add milk/cream and sugar)
Comfort seekers
People pleasers
Open book
Like to soften the bitterness of life (like they soften the bitterness of coffee)
Generous with time
Will go out of their way to help others
Can get over-extended
Don’t always take great care of themselves
Frozen/ blended coffee drinks
Try lots of new things
Socially bold
Trendsetters
Childlike
Spontaneous
Imaginative
Fall for quick fixes
Don’t always make healthy choices
Can be reckless
Decaf/ soy milk/ Very specifically ordered coffee
Like being in control
May be labeled selfish
Obsessive
Perfectionist
Very aware of their health and bodies
Monitor their health
Tend to make healthy choices
Overfocus on rules, control and order
Overly sensitive
Tend to be worriers
Instant coffee
Traditional in some ways
Laid back
Procrastinate
Take life as it comes
Don’t get too lost in details
Too laid back
Put things off and may neglect basic health issues
Poor planners
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.
