Maria Almudena Claassen

Maria Almudena Claassen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Healthy Cognition Lab, University of Glasgow, Scotland (2020-2022).

Dr. Claassen completed her PhD in Social Psychology at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium in 2019, where she examined the influence of socioeconomic status on impulsivity and eating behavior. She also holds a Research Master in Social and Health Psychology and a BSc in Social Psychology from Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands, as well as a BSc in Literary Studies from the same institution.

Her research focuses on health behavior, particularly food choices and decision-making processes. She investigates how socioeconomic factors influence eating behaviors, how to boost healthier food decisions, and the psychological mechanisms underlying consumption patterns. Dr. Claassen employs experimental methods and has a strong interest in programming and data analysis to advance her research.

Her recent work examines the mis-measurement of food decisions, representational shifts in water consumption, and the impact of social norms on vegetable choices. She has published in reputable journals including Appetite, PNAS, and BMC Public Health.

Dr. Claassen has presented her work at conferences including the SABE 2025 Annual Conference and the European Health Psychology Conference.

She has worked on an ESRC grant examining the role of consumption and reward simulations in the motivation for sugar-sweetened beverages and water. Her research has implications for public health interventions aimed at promoting healthier eating behaviors.