A bite to eat on a first date, a family feast to celebrate Thanksgiving, or a lunch meeting to collaborate with coworkers – food is often associated with social occasions and interaction with others. According to recent research by Sarah-Jeanne Salvy and her colleagues, the other people you eat with not only influence why you eat but also how much.

The ideas of self-presentation or impression management suggest that people alter their own behaviors to present a positive image towards others. When eating, individuals can boost their image by limiting the amount of food they eat (to appear composed or more feminine, for women) or by matching what others eat (to show similarity and solidarity).

Perhaps you’ve seen or experienced this yourself? Feeling the nerves on a first date; trying to eat consciously so that more food gets in your mouth than on your face. But this isn’t how we eat around everyone.

This recent study looked at differences in eating patterns between strangers and friends. Participants in groups of 2 engaged in ten minute conversations and had the opportunity to eat snacks while chatting. Results revealed that in fact participants who were paired with familiar partners ate more than those paired with strangers.

As you grow more comfortable in your relationship, you both begin to relax and eat more, fighting for the crispy French fry, scooping up the last of the crème brûlée. The pressure of eating politely isn’t as important now that you’ve found more to build your relationship on.

Interestingly, there may still be some signs of self-presentation in close relationships. Despite expectations to the contrary, researchers found no difference between the correlations of consumption between friends and strangers. In other words, both friends and strangers matched one another on the amount of food they ate.

So even though you might eat more with your familiar partners, you are also more likely to eat more if they do too. Food for thought the next time you share a meal with a friend or a stranger.