Professor Robin Dunbar of the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford said: “This study suggests that social eating plays an important role in promoting social bonding, and communal eating may be a mechanism for humans to do just that. This suggests that it may have evolved.
Moreover, according to Professor Dunbar, previous research has already shown the importance of social networks in combating mental and physical illness.
“A significant proportion of respondents felt that eating together was an important way to build or strengthen their social networks. In our times, taking time to participate in a communal meal is perhaps the most important thing we can do, both for our own health and well-being and the wider community.”
