Research by Cao and colleagues confirms and extends research previously published by Woolley and Fishbach (2019) on the psychological implications of sharing food, particularly reaching into the same bowl (or other container) repeatedly and eating food removed. Findings are relevant in the design of break areas and negotiation suites and the development of related food “policies,” for example. The Cao-lead team reports that “Woolley and Fishbach (2019) empirically confirmed that shared eating leads to higher cooperation than separate eating…we conducted two face-to-face negotiation experiments in which negotiators verbally and nonverbally communicated with each other and made decisions jointly…The introduction of multiple issues…enabled us to explore the efficient integration of resources…known technically as Pareto efficiency. When a Pareto-efficient agreement is reached, ‘no [other] agreement is possible that would be preferred by both negotiators or would be preferred by one and to which the other would be indifferent’ (Tripp & Sondak, 1992, p. 279)…shared eating helped negotiators achieve higher Pareto efficiency in a multi-issue negotiation…Research suggests that rituals can increase cooperation…the present findings suggest that breaking bread can lead to bigger negotiation pies.”
Jiyin Cao, Dejun Kong, and Adam Galinsky. “Breaking Bread Produces Bigger Pies: An Empirical Extension of Shared Eating to Negotiations and a Commentary on Woolley and Fishbach (2019).” Psychological Science, in press, DOI: 10.1177/0956797620939532
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.