Shared Meals: A Predictor of Subjective Well-Being

By: Josefa Brigham

Think about a recent lunch or dinner you shared with someone. How did you feel during and after that experience? Sharing food—or simply spending time with someone without the pressure of tasks, chores, or responsibilities—creates space to relax and truly enjoy the moment. Is it a surprise to you that a study conducted by Gallup, and Oxford, found that sharing meals is a predictor of happiness? This simple mundane activity has a powerful impact on our overall perceptions of our well-being. At the Center for Health and Well-being, this metric was included in a community-wide survey to assess how often students engage in this habit. The survey, developed through collaboration among various departments such as Sports, Counseling, and Campus Life, revealed that the 980 IE students shared an average of 8.12 meals per week. This makes shared meals a meaningful and relevant habit within our community—one worthy of deeper exploration.This article examines how this simple act is practiced around the world, its powerful influence on subjective well-being, and the way it nurtures social connections.

Gallup is a global analytics and advisory firm. They conduct research from various sectors in our society; technology, health, business, economy, etc with the purpose to provide insights on how people behave, and identifying their needs and wants, so that these sectors can be better informed.  For this project the Well-being Research Centre of Oxford University used their data, to focus on the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness. This led to the creation of a 260 page report that explores how; kindness, sharing meals, living, connecting, supporting, and trusting others impact an individual's perception of their subjective well-being. For sharing meals specifically, a data set from Gallup was used which gathered information from 142 different countries in 2022 and 2023. 

Shared Meals Across Countries  

Because the sample was so culturally diverse, researchers were able to identify differences in how various countries experience shared meals. Participants were asked how many meals (lunches and dinners) they shared with others, and how many they ate alone during a typical week. The results were surprising. Latin America and the Caribbean ranked first in meal sharing, followed by North America, and then Western Europe. In contrast, South Asia reported the fewest shared meals per week—fewer than four. Previous research has also found similar patterns in South and East Asia, particularly in countries like Japan and the Republic of Korea. A plausible explanation is the growing number of single-person households and the increasing ageing population. When asked specifically, “How many lunches and dinners have you eaten with someone you know in the past week?” the results shifted. Senegal ranked highest, with participants reporting an average of 11.7 shared meals per week. Gambia, Malaysia, and Paraguay followed closely. Notably, Iceland was the only European country to appear in the top ten, with residents sharing ten meals per week.

Subjective Well-Being & Shared Meals 

Subjective well-being refers to how we evaluate our lives (life satisfaction) and our experiences of positive and negative emotions (affect). The relationship between life evaluations and sharing meals reveals a clear positive correlation— the more meals shared, the higher the reported quality of life. What is particularly striking is the difference between those who share at least one meal per week and those who share none. This suggests that simply sharing one meal with someone can significantly boost your life evaluation. Isn’t that amazing? In terms of affect, sharing meals is also a strong predictor of positive emotions. This means that the simple act of sharing a meal could lead to experiencing more positive feelings. So, if you need a mood lift, consider planning a lunch, dinner, or even just going for coffee and sharing a croissant with someone—you’ll likely notice a positive change in your mood. Additionally, it was found that individuals tend to enjoy their food more when they eat or cook with others.

While correlation does not imply causation, sharing meals is clearly a meaningful ritual that contributes to subjective well-being. It could be that “sharing a meal itself causes people to be happy, or that happy people are more likely to share meals with others” (WHR25). Either way, the outcome benefits our happiness, raising the question: why not make this habit a regular part of your day-to-day life?

Social connectedness & Shared Meals

Previous research has shown that social ties significantly promote overall subjective well-being, offering a plausible explanation for the findings discussed earlier. To explore this relationship further, the Oxford Well-being Research Center analyzed data from the Gallup World Poll (GWP) alongside additional data from the Global Preferences Survey (GPS). A total of 80,000 individuals from 76 countries participated in these surveys. These datasets were later correlated with the Gallup 2022-2023 survey mentioned earlier.

The strongest relationships were found between shared meals and factors such as positive reciprocity, social support, and loneliness. For instance, countries with higher levels of social support tend to have a greater average number of shared meals. However, the impact of shared meals on social connectedness was found to be smaller than its effect on subjective well-being. The report partly attributed this to differences in the timing of data collection, sample sizes, and the possibility that “the positive benefits of sharing meals may operate through channels that have little or less to do with social connections than one might expect” (WHR25).

Additionally, happier individuals are more likely to be employed, live with others, and experience other life circumstances that can independently influence social bonds. This fascinating area of research highlights the complexity of happiness and demonstrates how various metrics contribute differently to how people experience and perceive their lives.

Conclusion

The saying “sharing is caring” has a global relevance. In this sense it is not actually about sharing your food with someone, but it is simply sharing your time with someone and enjoying a delicious meal. It is truly a powerful moment to talk about life, be vulnerable, share mistakes, experiences, and accomplishments. This could be considered an exchange of life stories, where one feels seen and heard. By stepping back and turning off the autopilot we often operate on in daily life, we can better appreciate these small moments, finding renewed motivation to carry on with our chores, tasks, and responsibilities. After reflecting on these findings, consider your own habits: Have you incorporated shared meals into your daily life? Was this something your family valued? What did your family do to honor this tradition?

References

Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J., De Neve, J.-E., Huang, H., & Wang, S. (Eds.). (2025). World Happiness Report 2025. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. https://files.worldhappiness.report/WHR25.pdf