From the Brain to the Field: The Applications of Social Neuroscience to Economics, Health and Law.

Gayannée Kedia,Lotte Van Dillen,Gert-Jan Lelieveld,Lasana Harris

doi:10.3390/brainsci7080094

Gayannée Kedia, Lotte Van Dillen + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7080094

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Abstract

Social neuroscience aims to understand the biological systems that underlie people’s thoughts, feelings and actions in light of the social context in which they operate. Over the past few decades, social neuroscience has captured the interest of scholars, practitioners, and experts in other disciplines, as well as the general public who more and more draw upon the insights and methods of social neuroscience to explain, predict and change behavior. With the popularity of the field growing, it has become increasingly important to consider the validity of social neuroscience findings as well as what questions it can and cannot address. In the present review article, we examine the contribution of social neuroscience to economics, health, and law, three domains with clear societal relevance. We address the concerns that the extrapolation of neuroscientific results to applied social issues raises within each of these domains, and we suggest guidelines and good practices to circumvent these concerns.

Highlights

Social neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field that aims to investigate how biological systems implement social behavior, and to understand social processes by examining their biological underpinnings [1]
In the present review article, we intend to provide examples of the contribution of social neuroscience to the domains of economics, health and law, address the concerns raised by the extrapolation of neuroscientific results to applied disciplines, and suggest guidelines and good practices to circumvent these concerns
The field of economics, health and law investigate different theoretical questions, they have in common the use of neuroscientific research results for applied purposes and draw from social neuroscience studies that rely on the same methods

Summary

Introduction

Social neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field that aims to investigate how biological systems implement social behavior, and to understand social processes by examining their biological underpinnings [1]. Reliance on flexible statistical analyses, post-hoc alterations to hypotheses, low statistical power in neuroimaging studies, and the so-called file drawer problem—the tendency to publish positive results over negative or nonconfirmatory results—are some of the biases that could contribute to a distorted depiction of brain functioning These issues are not specific to the field of social neuroscience [23,24]; all other areas of empirical science have to deal with similar challenges and face the same replication crisis. The field of economics, health and law investigate different theoretical questions, they have in common the use of neuroscientific research results for applied purposes and draw from social neuroscience studies that rely on the same methods This means they often encounter the same challenges, such as those mentioned above (i.e., reverse inference, ecological validity, sample representativeness, and replicability).

Economics

Health

Conclusions