Eating a Cheese Sandwich Could Help You Get a Raise

Want to score yourself a raise? The key to making your case in a meeting with your boss isn’t a $2,000 suit - instead, it might just be a cheese sandwich.

By . Posted on June 16 2008

Want to score yourself a raise? The key to making your case in a meeting with your boss isn’t a $2,000 suit - instead, it might just be a cheese sandwich.

Sound strange? We thought so too, but read on to learn why a slice of cheddar might just increase your cash flow.

According to new research, a brain chemical called seratonin can impact the way we respond to situations that affect our interests. In a psychology study at the University of Cambridge, some subjects were tested under two conditions: Once, after drinking a milkshake rich in an amino acid called tryptophan that increases seratonin levels; and once under normal conditions.

In both cases, they were asked to play “The Ultimatum Game,” in which subjects are split into teams of two. One partner is asked to offer the other whatever share of $10 he wants, and if the other partner refuses, neither gets to keep the money. In normal situations, about half of those offered 25 percent or less turned down the deal - but, in low-seratonin test subjects, 80 percent of players refused the offer, even though their decision left them worse off than if they’d accepted the insulting deal.

“Our results suggest serotonin plays a critical role in social decision making by keeping aggressive social responses in check,” Molly Crocket, the study’s leader, told The Independent. “Changes in diet and stress cause our serotonin levels to fluctuate naturally, so it is important to understand how this might affect our everyday decision making.”

Fascinating though this may be, how does it connect to cheese sandwiches and raises?

Well, cheese sandwiches are especially high in tryptophan, so a pre-meeting snack can boost your seratonin levels, helping you to stay more rational while dealing with high-stakes decisions. But be careful not to go too overboard with the meal: Trytophan is also present in turkey, and is known to cause those all-too-familiar post-dinner napping sessions. (Somehow, passing out on the conference table doesn’t seem like the number one way to score some extra cash to us.)

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