A field guide to the bon vivant

There's one in every crowd, the joke teller whose love of food, fun and wine makes him the life of the party. It takes gregariousness, a lack of inhibition and an appreciation of fine things to produce such a lively personality, one the French call a bon vivant.

The bon vivant possesses three key traits, notes C. Robert Cloninger, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis: a love of novelty and pleasure, a lack of fear that makes him an outgoing risk-taker and a high dependence on rewards from other people.

"Not every gregarious person is a bon vivant," says Paul T. Costa Jr., the Baltimore-based chief of the laboratory of personality and cognition at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. "Outgoing people aren't necessarily assertive. They'll say, `I want to be in the audience, but I don't want to be on stage.' "

For most, the secret to healthy hedonism is making sure your pleasures accede to your responsibilities -- not the other way around. Be aware of your deadlines: If you're going out with the gang tonight, get that report in shape today so you can hand it in tomorrow morning. ...

•	A field guide to the bon vivant Psychology Today, Tuesday, March 6, 2007 Byline: Alison Rogers, Psychology Today

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