Sharing food from a single plate increased perceived coordination among diners, which in turn led them to behave more cooperatively & less competitively toward each other; the effect on cooperation occurred among strangers also

Shared Plates, Shared Minds: Consuming  from a Shared Plate Promotes Cooperation. Kaitlin Woolley & Ayelet Fishbach. In press, Psychological Science, https://kaitlinwoolleycom.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/shared_plates-in-press.pdf

Abstract: A meal naturally brings people together, but does the way a meal is served and consumed further matter for cooperation between people? This research (n=1476) yielded evidence that it does. People eating from shared plates (i.e., Chinese style meal) cooperated more in social dilemmas and negotiations than those eating from separate plates. Specifically, sharing food from a single plate increased perceived coordination among diners, which in turn led them to behave more cooperatively and less competitively toward each other compared with individuals eating the same food from separate plates. The effect of sharing a plate on cooperation occurred among strangers, which suggests that sharing plates can bring together not only allies, but strangers as well.

Keywords: food consumption, cooperation, coordination, social dilemma, negotiation
The raw data and supplemental material for all studies are available at OSF: bit.ly/2nxqNXu