People who eat together tend to mimic their dining partner.

Whether it is competitive eating or empathetic dining it really does happen; subconsciously.

Researchers say the findings help explain previous studies showing that people tend to adjust their food intake — up or down — to match that of their eating companions, and tend to eat more with others than when dining alone.
“This demonstrates the power of social influence over food intake,” says lead author Roel Hermans, a doctoral candidate in developmental psychopathology at Radboud University Nijmegen, in the Netherlands.