An experimental study on political decision-making based on brain neuroscience

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K01330
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 06010:Politics-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: TANIGUCHI Naoko 慶應義塾大学, システムデザイン・マネジメント研究科(日吉), 教授 (50307203)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 実験政治学 / 脳神経科学 / 原子力発電 / 討議実験 / 高レベル放射性廃棄物処分場

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to examine people's reactions to confrontational and complex issues and to explore the path to consensus building. Specifically, using the framework of a public opinion survey on high-level radioactive waste disposal sites for nuclear power generation, we conducted an experiment in which experts' explanations and opinions of the general public were presented as experimental stimulus sentences to participants and their brain activity was measured. The results were interpreted based on the relationship between the participants' attributes, social attitudes, and opinions on this issue, which were surveyed before and after the experiment, and it was found that the brain activity differed depending on these factors. We also conducted a discussion experiment on energy issues, including nuclear power generation, and explored the relationship between the nature of information, communication style, and characteristics of the experiment participants.

Free Research Field

政治学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

2000年代以降、政治学でも人々のミクロな心理・認知プロセスの把握を目的として、脳神経科学アプローチを通じた実験・分析がなされるようになったが、日本での研究例は少ない。本研究は、１人の脳活動をfMRIを使って計測し、また複数の参加者の相互作用を脳波計によって計測する点でも、先進的試みと言える。また研究テーマとして、現在の日本社会における重要な対立的争点の１つである原子力発電（高レベル放射性廃棄物処分場）の問題を扱い、討議実験のフレームを援用した。実験の結果、人々の性質や意見による反応の違いが明らかとなった。これらの点が本研究の学術的・社会的意義と言える。