Disentangling bottom-up versus top-down influences of shared food experience on social affiliation

The taste of cooperation - Disentangling bottom-up versus top-down influences of shared food experience on social affiliation
Abstract
Sharing food is a culturally universal bonding experience. Emerging evidence suggests that eating the same food, or even sharing from the same plate, can promote trust and cooperation between strangers. However, the sensory and cognitive mechanisms by which food sharing facilitates social affiliation are still unknown. The present project aims to disentangle sensory (shared food experience) from cognitive (knowledge of sharing) contributions to social outcomes of food sharing. Two lab-based food-sharing studies will be conducted where, by manipulating what participants are told about the shared foods and what they actually eat, we can disassociate the cognitive knowledge of food-sharing from the sensory experience. Partners will subsequently complete a social coordination game that either requires cognitive cooperation (Study 1, economic game) or sensorimotor coordination (Study 2, synchronization of dyadic finger-tapping). Thus, the present project will elucidate how different pathways to social affiliation via food-sharing (sensory versus cognitive) impact coordination across distinct domains of social behavior.
About the speakers
Qian Janice Wang, assistant professor, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen
Anna Zamm, assistant professor, Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University
IMC Tuesday Seminar held June 20th, 2023.
Note: Talk is trimmed to ensure anonymity of informants.