“Birds of a feather flock together” has been attributed to Plato as far back as 360 BC, when he is quoted as saying: “Men of my age flock together; we are birds of a feather, as the old proverb says.” This thought probably exists because people who are similar seek out others like themselves in a variety of ways, recently affirmed by people’s food choices in a cafeteria.
A modern wellness version of the above proverb, published in Nature Human Behaviour, is entitled, “
Social connections and the healthfulness of food choices in an employee population.” The influence of your dining partners’ food choices at work was studied at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) over a two-year period, using digitally collected check-out data from folks who commonly ate cafeteria meals together. Foods are labeled in the MGH cafeterias using a “traffic light” system with healthy items as green, less healthy as yellow, and unhealthy as red.
The “green folks” tended to congregate more than the other groups, but all three preference categories found each other and discovered comfort in congregating over similar food choices.
Sociology studies have shown that the desire to find like-minded people is hard-wired. The degree of similarity between two individuals when they meet for the first time or share a work-related project greatly influences both their compatibility and productivity.
Examining initial conversations of blind dates shows similar exploration searching for common interests, thoughts, behaviors, values, and habits. Work teams that are successful have agreed-upon behaviors, goals, and aspirations. Exercisers find other active people. And sadly, people who are overweight congregate with others of similar size. Likewise, smokers gather with others who smoke.
Circling back to food choices, whether in cafeterias or restaurants, making the healthy choice the easy choice is very effective. Placing healthy items up front, attractively displayed and priced, increases sales volume. Conversely, as an example, moving burgers and fries to the back of the line or a less accessible height with a price meant to discourage purchase can have a profound effect on sales of these unhealthy items.
Current national real-life examples abound. A large national pharmaceutical chain stopped cigarette sales in 2014 as the first step in creating a new culture based of health and wellness. The stores’ change attracted healthier people, thus differentiating the corporate image. This national chain’s strategy to have healthier people become long-term customers has been successful.
This short essay started with food, migrated to personalities, and landed on healthy stores. Finding people, places, and policies that give us comfort, in turn, allow us to share this well-being with others, thus perpetuating a healthy virtuous cycle.