Getting a bigger slice of the pie. Effects on eating and emotion in restrained and unrestrained eaters

Manipulated perceptions of the portion size of food influence subsequent eating by restrained and unrestrained eaters. In the present study, all participants were served a same-sized slice of pizza. For one-third of participants, their slice appeared larger than the slice being served to another ostensible participant, another third perceived their slice as smaller, and the final third did not see a second slice. All participants then proceeded to “taste and rate” cookies in an ad lib eating opportunity. A significant interaction reflected the fact that when the pizza slice was perceived as large, restrained eaters tended to eat more cookies whereas unrestrained eaters tended to eat less cookies. Emotion data suggest that the differential responses of restrained and unrestrained eaters to the belief that they have overeaten relative to another eater influenced their subsequent dissimilar ad lib eating behavior.