Sacred Values and Biological Antecedents of Political Conflict

政治冲突的神圣价值观和生物学前因

• 批准号: 0827313
• 负责人: Scott Atran
• 金额: $ 124.99万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-10-15 至 2014-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0827313&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Sacred; Values; Biological; Antecedents; Political

This research investigates the way political conflicts are influenced by sacred values, which are values that incorporate ethical or religious beliefs and are associated with human behavior that seems motivated independently of its prospect of success. Past research has approached the study of political conflicts as though they were between instrumental actors -- people and groups aiming to maximize their instrumental gains and minimize losses. Indeed, rational actor models have long dominated strategic thinking at all levels of government policy. However, many key components of decision-making vary with context, across social relations and domains, and as a function of whether or not a choice has ethical or moral entailments. The guiding hypothesis of this research is that people in political conflicts make non-instrumental judgments and decisions when they conceptualize the issues under dispute as sacred values, such as when groups of people transform land from a simple resource into a "holy site." Previous research carried out by this interdisciplinary team of investigators has advanced theoretical understanding of sacred values, developed novel methods of studying their impact on political decision-making and negotiations, and demonstrated their role in non-instrumental and often violent choices in political contexts. However, scientific investigation of sacred values is still in its infancy and more needs to be done. Specifically, this research: 1) investigates biological and cultural antecedents of sacred values and the social identity functions of sacred values across cultures, 2) probes the role of sacred values in influencing violent and seemingly intractable political conflict, and 3) uses this knowledge to investigate possibilities of reducing political and cultural conflict. The methodology integrates basic and applied research, combining brain imaging studies with laboratory and field experiments, surveys and interviews in order to provide "real-world" relevance for policymakers as well.

这项研究调查了神圣价值观对政治冲突的影响，神圣价值观是包含道德或宗教信仰的价值观，与人类行为有关，这些行为似乎与成功的前景无关。 过去的研究已经接近政治冲突的研究，好像他们之间的工具行为者-人和团体，旨在最大限度地提高他们的工具收益和尽量减少损失。事实上，理性行动者模型长期以来一直主导着各级政府政策的战略思维。然而，决策的许多关键组成部分因环境而异，跨越社会关系和领域，并作为一种选择是否具有伦理或道德含义的函数。这项研究的指导假设是，当人们在政治冲突中将争议的问题概念化为神圣价值时，他们会做出非工具性的判断和决定，例如当一群人将土地从简单的资源转变为“圣地”时。“这个跨学科的研究人员团队以前进行的研究已经推进了对神圣价值观的理论理解，开发了研究其对政治决策和谈判影响的新方法，并展示了它们在政治背景下的非工具性和往往是暴力选择中的作用。然而，对神圣价值观的科学调查仍处于起步阶段，需要做更多的工作。具体来说，这项研究：1）研究神圣价值观的生物和文化渊源以及不同文化中神圣价值观的社会认同功能，2）探索神圣价值观在影响暴力和看似棘手的政治冲突中的作用，3）使用这些知识来研究减少政治和文化冲突的可能性。该方法整合了基础研究和应用研究，将脑成像研究与实验室和实地实验、调查和访谈相结合，以便为决策者提供“现实世界”的相关性。