Why favor smaller repeated strikes?

Would smaller, repeated Royal Navy strike groups take heavier losses than large American or Japanese strikes?

The Navy expected night operations, fighter cover, and warning pickets to reduce that risk while repeated attacks kept pressure on the enemy.

Small formations were easier to coordinate at night than a single massed strike. Cruiser and destroyer pickets were expected to warn of incoming aircraft before radar became available. Fighters already orbiting above the carrier could then try to break up the attack. Meanwhile, repeated British strikes would keep pressure on the enemy without committing the entire air group at once.