It's not just lunch

Sharing a meal with a former romantic partner is more likely than other, non-food-related activities to make your current partner jealous, according to a study published July 11 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

The authors, led by Kevin Kniffin of Cornell University, asked undergraduate students to rate their jealousy in response to hypothetical scenarios involving their romantic partner engaging with a former partner, either by email, phone, coffee, or a meal. They found that a meal elicited the highest jealousy ratings, potentially pointing to the importance of meals for human relationships and intimacy. Interestingly, the researchers did not find any significant differences in the jealousy reported by male versus female participants.

Dr. Kniffin remarks, "Given the tradition and fashion of food sharing among co-workers, family members, and friends, our findings are notably consistent with the idea that eating together has importance beyond nutritional factors. By applying a functional view of jealousy, our studies yield the inference that people think meals can be more than just meals."

Citation: Kniffin KM, Wansink B (2012) It's Not Just Lunch: Extra-Pair Commensality Can Trigger Sexual Jealousy. PLoS ONE 7(7): e40445. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0040445

Financial Disclosure: There was no external funding for the current studies.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040445

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