Dr. Helena Voss

Biography

Dr. Voss spent fifteen years at the Max Planck Institute studying decision fatigue before a dinner party epiphany led her to question why she—and everyone she observed—consistently left exactly one bite of food on the plate. Her subsequent research on 'behavioral residuals' has become foundational to the field. She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from ETH Zurich and a Master's in Gastronomy from the University of Bologna, which she describes as 'accidentally relevant.'

Research Interests

• Behavioral residuals in consumption patterns
• Decision fatigue and meal completion
• The psychology of 'almost finished'
• Cross-cultural plate-clearing behaviors
• Leftover anxiety and refrigerator guilt

Selected Publications

• The Last Bite: Why We Never Finish and What It Means (Oxford University Press, 2019)
• Residual Behaviors in Household Task Completion: A 12-Year Longitudinal Study
• Plate Geometry and Perceived Meal Completion: An Experimental Analysis
• The 80% Rule: Universal Stopping Points in Human Consumption
• Why Nobody Ever Uses the Last Sheet: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Resource Residuals

Education

• Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology ETH Zurich, 2003
• M.A., Gastronomy Sciences University of Bologna, 1998
• B.Sc., Psychology Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 1996