Food scarcity and disease concern reduce interdependence when people eat together

Abstract

Food sharing is central to the human experience, serving biological and sociocultural functions. Historically, food sharing has allowed people to manage food shortages, creating positive interdependence among those who pool calories and other sources of risk. However, sharing food may lead to negative outcomes when food is scarce, or when there is a threat of disease. We found that sharing food (compared with sharing pencils) led to reduced cooperation with an experiment partner (Study 1) and that perceived scarcity partially mediated a negative association between zero‐sum orientation and perceived interdependence with people involved in a recently shared meal (Studies 2–3). Disgust was also associated with lower perceived interdependence toward people involved in a shared meal (Study 3; NTotal = 1126). Our results suggest that scarcity and disgust can interfere with the positive feelings people might otherwise experience when eating together, warning against lay beliefs that ‘breaking bread’ necessarily brings people together.