Wait or Eat? self-other differences in a commonly held food norm

This research examines a widespread food norm: waiting to eat until everyone in a dining party has received their food. Six experiments (five preregistered, total N = 1907) examine how individuals perceive and respond to this norm and reveal a consistent self-other difference in anticipated norm adherence. Participants reported greater expected norm adherence from themselves compared to others (Studies 1a, 2a, 3–4). This self-other difference is driven by a differential perception of the psychological costs and benefits of eating immediately versus waiting, which are more pronounced for the self than for others (Studies 2a-2b). We tested two interventions targeting this difference: taking the other person's perspective partially reduced, but did not eliminate, the self-other difference (Study 3), while explicit encouragement from a dining companion to break the norm and begin eating, intended to remove social constraints, had no significant effect on the self-other difference (Study 4). These findings extend our understanding of food norms by demonstrating that the perceived psychological utility of norm adherence varies systematically between self and others.