article: Need to have a difficult conversation with your other half or your boss? It might be a good idea to take them out to dinner. We get on better with each other over a meal, according to researchers who said it makes everyone from work colleagues to children seem more pleasant. Dutch and Canadian scientists asked nearly 100 men and women to fill in a questionnaire every time they spent at least five minutes talking to someone else. Well digested: Scientists have found people felt happier and more relaxed while eating at home or at work . About a fifth of the 1,000 meetings recorded took place over a meal, the journal Physiology and Behavior reports. On these occasions participants felt happier and more relaxed, whether at home, at work or elsewhere. They felt friendlier, listened more, gave more compliments and were more likely to make compromises. They also believed that the person they were with was warmer and more likeable. And hierarchies broke down between bosses and employees and adults and children. One possible explanation is that chewing raises levels of the ‘feel-good’ brain chemical serotonin. Food for thought: The study found that people can talk about tricky subjects far easier over a meal . It is also possible that shared meals enhance our inbuilt desire to be accepted and to please others. Marije aan het Rot, of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, said that tricky topics might be best tackled over a meal. Bosses and employees and also parents and children, might all find it easier to get on at the table while dinner may not be the best idea for a first date. Dr Rot said the people in her study knew each other and the effect of a sharing a meal might be different among strangers. Apart from anything else, meals can be lengthy and people meeting for the first time might struggle to come up with enough conversation.
highlights: Dutch and Canadian study looked at 100 men and women .
  Meals made the person they were with 'warmer' and 'more 'likeable'
  Chewing raises the levels of 'feel-good' chemical serotonin .
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