Neuro-psychological and institutional foundations of prosocial behavior

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23223003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: Hitotsubashi University (2013-2015); The University of Tokyo (2012); Hokkaido University (2011)
• Principal Investigator: YAMAGISHI Toshio 一橋大学, 大学院国際企業戦略研究科, 特任教授 (80158089)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SAKAGAMI Masamichi 玉川大学, 脳科学研究所, 教授 (10225782) ; KIYONARI Toko 青山学院大学, 社会情報学部, 准教授 (60555176) ; TAKAHASHI Nobuyuki 北海道大学, 大学院文学研究科, 准教授 (80333582) ; TAKAGISHI Haruto 玉川大学, 脳科学研究所, 助教 (90709370)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-05-31 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 向社会性 / 利他性 / 互恵性 / 社会的ニッチ / 進化 / 制度 / 経済ゲーム実験 / 脳構造機能

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Based on economic game experiments, brain scan studies, and gene allele analysis, this study provides a series of evidence to support the social niche construction theory of human prosociality, according to which human prosociality is understood as an adaptation to the social environment consisting of other humans’adaptive behavior in which acting in prosocial manner enhances the long-term fitness of the actor. We provide a series of evidence supporting the view that cultural differences in the functioning of human mind reflect differences in the social niche to which the mind is to adapt, as well as evidence that differences in the psychological mechanism that induces individuals to behave prosocially also reflect the characteristics of the social niches to which they adapt.

Free Research Field

社会心理学