The partitioning paradox: The big bite around small packages

We replicate the research of Do Vale et al. (2008) and Scott et al. (2008) showing that the diet-conscious tend to eat more when a portion is broken into multiple smaller partitions than when it is unpartitioned. The results show that the partitioning paradox is clearer when diet-consciousness is manipulated than measured. A meta-analysis reveals that the partitioning paradox among the diet-conscious is a medium size effect, but also that partitioning has an opposite and equal size effect on the non-diet conscious: they eat more from the unpartitioned than the partitioned package.