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 .
Dutch and Canadian study looked at 1,000 men and women . Meals made the person they were with 'warmer ' and 'more 'likeable ' Chewing raises the levels of 'feel-good ' chemical serotonin .