Exploring human decision-making through mathematical models and experiments

How can we make people with different interests or values cooperate in building a better society?

A seemingly selfish behavior or decision might in fact originate not in the person’s character but in their circumstances, that is, in the structure of the game. Sometimes we feel that we simply “had no other choice.” In order to grasp the background for such behavior and decision-making, it is useful to generalize complicated social conditions, taking them as a mathematical model. Incidentally, social psychology has traditionally put great importance on the impact of circumstances on human behavior.

My own focus as a social psychologist is on so-called “social dilemmas.” A social dilemma is a common problem that emerges when an individual’s rational choice is at odds with the benefit of the entire group.

I study cooperative and non-cooperative decision-making in such social dilemmas. My two-pronged research method combines mathematical model construction with measurement and analysis of behavioral data through experiments and surveys.