In the study, pairs of strangers either ate the same snack as their partners or a different snack. Then they played a game designed to measure trust: One partner could choose how much money to give the other based on how much he or she trusted the other’s judgment.
On average, the people who ate the same snack as their partners gave almost 30 percent more money to their partners and said they felt about 17 percent closer to them than the pairs who ate different types of food.
Essentially, that means the pairs who ate the same food bonded more, the researchers say.
Eating with someone can make you feel connected to them because people associate food with bonding, says study co-author Kaitlin Woolley, a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago. That’s because you typically eat during social occasions, like family dinners.
Eating the same thing as the other person can make that connection even stronger because it helps you relate to each other and feel like you have something in common, Woolley says.
This phenomenon can help you break the ice with a first date, boss, potential client, or anyone else sitting across the table from you, she says.
So be a copycat next time you’re out to dinner. Let your dining companion order first, and then say: “You know what? That sounds awesome. I’ll have the same.”
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Article Source: http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/eating-the-same-food-promotes-bonding
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