BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER The fascinating psychology behind mediation has given us another insight. Sharing food from a common plate, sometimes called eating “family style” results in better and faster negotiations. Researchers from University at Chicago and Cornell (The researchers were both women—no surprise, since women are so often responsible for meals.) set up an experiment in which strangers were assigned to negotiate a hypothetical union-management dispute in which each round of negotiations resulted in another day of the strike costing both sides money. This provided an incentive to conclude negotiations quickly. However, before negotiations began the negotiators were invited to enjoy a snack of chips and salsa. Half of the negotiators were given one bowl of chips and salsa to share and half were given their own separate bowls. Turns out that sharing a single bowl led the negotiators to reach a deal after only nine strike days as compared to 13 strike