在中国文化中，“吃苦”除了字面意义上的进食苦味之意，还具有“考验”、“历练” 等含义。在中国的教育实践中，食苦也常作为磨砺坚强意志品质的朴素手段，人们似乎相 信“吃苦”与“耐劳”之间存在某种关联。前人研究已经发现了味觉上的“苦”与情绪上 的“痛苦”以及生活经历上的“磨难”之间的映射关系，那么在味觉意义上的“吃苦”与 人格意义上的“耐劳”之间也存在类似的联结吗？本研究即基于概念隐喻理论探讨了这一 问题，通过四个研究考察了食苦的行为或习惯与坚毅人格之间的双向联系，具体来说，检 验了偏好食苦的人是否更坚毅，以及反过来，坚毅的人是否更偏好食苦。 研究 1A 与 1B 以观察者视角初步发现了这种双向关联，即人们会认为一个更能食苦的 人是一个更坚毅的人，同时一个更坚毅的人也是一个更能食苦的人。研究 2 设置了一个为 持有特定目标的他人推荐健康套餐的情境，发现人们更倾向于为那些持有需要坚毅品质才 能达成的目标（相对于不那么需要坚毅品质即可完成的目标）的他人选择以苦为主味道的 健康套餐。这一结果暗示着人们认为食用苦味食品可以作为磨练坚毅人格的手段，进而增 加成功完成较难目标的可能性。研究 3 则转换为自身视角，直接考察了个体自己的味觉偏 好与其坚毅人格的关系，结果发现个体的苦味偏好与其坚毅人格正向关联。这些研究结果 揭示了中国文化中“吃苦耐劳”的朴素观念在心理概念上的隐喻联系以及在行为上的体现。

In Chinese culture, "eat bitterness" not only literally means eating bitter food, but also means "test" and "trial". In Chinese educational practice, eating bitterness is often used as a simple way to sharpen strong willpower, and people seem to believe that there is some connection between "eating bitterness" and "standing hard work", Previous studies have found a mapping between bitter taste, emotional pain, and hardships in life. Is there a similar link between taste bitterness and personality endurance? Based on the conceptual metaphor theory, this study explores the question through four studies, we examine the bidirectional relationship between bitter eating behavior or habit and grit personality. Specifically, we examine whether people who prefer to eat bitter are more grit, and, conversely, whether gritty people can eat more bitter food. Studies 1A and 1B preliminary found this two-way association from observer's perspective: a person who can eat more bitter is perceived as a person who is more gritty, and a person who is more gritty is perceived as a person who can eat more bitter. Study 2 presented a situation that there is someone who need to achieve a goal and found that people were more likely to recommend bitter foods for the one who need to achieve a high-grit-required goal (compare to a low-grit- required goal) .The results suggest that eating bitter foods may be used as a method to develop a grit personality, which in turn increases the possibility in achieving difficult goals. Study 3 directly explore the relationship between taste preference and grit personality from the perspective of the individual. The results showed that bitter taste preference was positively correlated with grit personality, reveal the metaphorical relation in psychological concept and behavior in the concept of "bear hardships and stand hard work" in Chinese culture.