The study yields from the inference that "people think meals can be more than just meals."
Researchers at the Cornell University asked students to imagine how jealous they would feel if their boyfriend or girlfriend engaged with a former romantic partner in different circumstances.
Participants had to rate jealousy feelings on a scale of one to five, ranging from "not at all jealous" to "very jealous". They also had to imagine how their best same-sex friend would feel in same situations.
The research found that sharing meals prompted the strongest jealous response, and emails the least. A morning coffee was seen as less innocent than a phone conversation, but not as serious as lunch.
The scientists refer to a dating service called "It's Just Lunch" in the study published in online journal Public Library of Science ONE.
They wrote: "Our studies suggest that the professional matchmaking company 'Its Just Lunch' perhaps unknowingly benefits from implicit beliefs about eating together that helps them to connect people. But moreover, our findings also suggest that a more accurate and innocuous saying might be 'Its Just Coffee', since people seem to view drinking coffee during the day as relatively more platonic."
"By applying a functional view of jealousy, our studies yield the inference that people think meals can be more than just meals," said Study leader Dr Kevin Kniffin, from Cornell University, New York.
Interestingly, the researchers did not find any significant differences in the jealousy reported by male versus female participants.
"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, " Kniffin said.
