I don ' t think it ' s genetic , one person doesn ' t feel the burn any more or less than another person , it comes down to how much you tolerate it , etc . It ' s acquired , like coffee or booze . Mexican families often give children candy with chili spice in it to boost their tolerance . You actually nailed it with the preference , that ' s mostly what it is . I wish I said this in my original response , but the people who like spicy foods are also people who tend to be more adventurous in general . For example , if you ' re talking to a secretary who gardens , you probably aren ' t talking to someone into spicy foods . But if you ' re talking to someone in the military , or someone into extreme sports or highrisk sales or something like that , the odds they like spicey food go up dramatically . 12 l o v e s p i c y f o o dbuiltyourpersonalityEDIT I typed Spanish instead of Mexican because sometimes my brain does stupid things . I realize they ' re different , promise . BONUS EDIT Here ' s the article the thought originally came from , found it 06 f y i a r e p e o pleborntolerancespicyfood