Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Sharing, By Design

by Sally Augustin, Ph.D. | January 30th, 2017

Even though food sharing – think coworker birthdays, holiday celebrations, and party leftovers are widespread at work, workplaces themselves often seem poorly prepared to support them. Sure, there’s a break area somewhere, but those spaces are often shared by people from different workgroups. Food sharing events are often very local affairs; people bring in items to share with those they work with most closely. Food-to-share doesn’t get as far from the seats of the people for whom it’s intended as that break area. Flat surfaces outside planned, formalized break zones that are large enough for spreading out shared food (and aren’t being put to some other use) are often in short supply. Ones located close enough to an electrical outlet so special items that need to be kept warm can be heated without an extension cord are particularly rare. Since food sharing is epidemic at some points in the year …