Whether you eat alone is one of the best predictors of happiness

If you’re sharing a meal with someone this Easter, chances are you’re happier.

In fact, it’s as strong an indicator of how happy you are as the amount of money you’re raking in and whether you’re holding down a job.

That’s according to this year’s World Happiness Report, which examined data from a survey across 142 countries and 150,000 people, finding the link between meal-sharing and happiness holds regardless of age, gender, country or culture.

How often you share meals has a stronger link both to the level of positive emotions you experience and how highly you rank your life satisfaction.Credit: AzmanL

There are well-established links between income, employment and happiness: someone holding down a job is more likely to be happy than someone who is unemployed. And the more money a person makes (at least until a certain point), the happier they tend to be.

You won’t see the rate of meal-sharing cited by many politicians or economists, but it’s a great indicator of happiness – and in some ways, more so than income.

How much you’re paid and whether you have a job is a stronger indicator of the level of negative emotions you experience, but how often you share meals has a stronger link both to the level of positive emotions you experience and how highly you rank your life satisfaction.

It’s the places where residents share more meals that tend to report greater average life satisfaction.

And while Latin America and the Caribbean are the global leaders in meal-sharing frequency, the link to happiness is stronger in Australia, North America and New Zealand than for any other region in the world. Starting to share most of our meals – meaning eight or more a week – can boost our wellbeing by the same amount as doubling our income.

We’re also a lot more likely to eat dinner with other people than we are to share lunches in Australia, sitting around the dining table with others for five dinners a week on average. Levels of meal-sharing generally are low in south and east Asian countries such as Japan, India and South Korea, where people share less than one meal out of three on average.

But wherever you look, it’s the places where residents share more meals that tend to report greater average life satisfaction.

Part of what makes the rate of meal-sharing such a good measure is that it’s relatively objective. It’s easy to ask and answer, it’s not something people are likely to hide or lie about (like they might for income), and it can be easily compared across countries, cultures, individuals and across time.

Of course, it has its limitations. For instance, how do we know whether sharing meals makes people happier, or if people share more meals when they’re happy to begin with?

We can’t say for certain, but chances are it goes both ways, at least to some extent.

Other factors can muddy the waters. For example, are people more likely to share a meal if they have the money to go out and meet people at a restaurant?

These factors, at least, can be accounted for, and researchers found the relationship between meal-sharing and happiness held even after considering income, education, employment and a buffet of other indicators. The more meals you share, the happier you tend to be.

Those who shared 13 meals with others in the previous week reported the highest average life satisfaction. That tumbles the fewer meals respondents shared in the past week. But the biggest jump is between those who ate all meals alone and those who ate at least one meal with someone else.

While the relationship holds across demographics, there are some differences in the ways meal-sharing tendencies affect different cohorts.

Both men and women who eat more frequently with others report higher life satisfaction and feeling more positive emotions, but when we look at the negative impact of dining alone, it tends to hit women harder.

By age, both young and old people report higher levels of negative emotions if they dine alone. But there are much bigger gaps in life satisfaction and the level of positive emotions reported for young people dining alone compared with older adults. The good news is that young people tend to share more meals than their elders.

Those who shared 13 meals with others in the previous week reported the highest average life satisfaction.Credit: Getty Images

One strong explanation for why meal-sharing might be linked with happiness is that eating with other people is a way of strengthening social connections.

Decades of research has shown social connectedness is key to our happiness, mental and physical health. People with stronger social connections are also more likely to be promoted, less likely to commit crimes and tend to live longer lives, while those who are socially isolated or lonely tend to experience more negative life outcomes.

This is good news for policymakers who might be looking for new, cost-effective and practical ways to boost happiness. Funding for initiatives or new programs centred around meal-sharing could be a realistic way to help strengthen social ties and well-being.

As a bonus, the research also found that sharing meals was linked to higher enjoyment of the food consumed or prepared. Put simply, eating your food with other people probably makes your food taste better.

While the findings certainly have implications for high-up decision-makers, it’s also something which individuals can think about in their everyday lives. If sharing meals is linked to higher life satisfaction and happiness, it could be worth finding ways to increase the number of meals you share with those around you.

So when your parents drag you to the table for dinner, or when you’re deciding whether to go eat your lunch alone or with colleagues, there’s a good argument for why you should step away from your room or desk and break bread together. It could just make you happier.

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