Research Project

Psychological and neuroscientific
elucidation into positive chain reactions
brought about by ‘knowing when enough
is enough’ (gratitude)

Project leader:Noriko Yamagishi

山岸 典子

Project members

Project leader
Noriko YamagishiSenior Researcher at the Center for Information and Neural Networks, the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology
Project member
Norberto Eiji NawaSenior Researcher at the Center for Information and Neural Networks, the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology

Research project summary (Objectives/goals (results))

In FY2016 the group conducted a psychological and neuroscientific review into the preceding force to the Inamori management philosophy— ‘gratitude’—in pursuit of neuroscientific basis for ‘knowing when enough is enough,’ a defining tenet of the Inamori management philosophy. The results of this research clearly showed that having a sense of gratitude related to positive feelings, and that continuing to take note of this sense of gratitude resulted in greater feelings of positivity (Fig. 1. 1. -> 2).

Research also showed that the stronger the brain activity changes were recorded in relation to significant concerns, the greater subsequent work performance improved in the proponents (Yamagishi et al., 2008) (Fig. 1. 3 -> 4). Recently there has been greater advocacy for theories into the effect human emotions, and in particular positive psychology, has on attention functions, and further research into this field is continuing. However, test results vary, and there is still no proof demonstrating this (Fig. 1. 2 -> 3).

With this in mind, research proponents developed a hypothesis suggesting that ‘gratitude leads to a positive chain of events,’ namely that ‘maintaining a sense of gratitude puts one in a positive frame of mind, allowing us to better draw our attention to matters of significance and improving work performance’ (Fig. 1). Through the application of scientific experimental testing, this research aims to elucidate, on a cognitive psychology and neuroscientific basis, the relationship between individual points advocated for by Dr. Inamori—that is, ‘to maintain a sense of gratitude’ (The Kyocera Philosophy), ‘always remain cheerful’ (The Twelve Management Principles, The Kyocera Philosophy), and ‘to improve your decision making capabilities by paying attention to even trivial matters purposefully and seriously’ (The Kyocera Philosophy), and that these are interlinked, forming a chain of positivity.

Fig 1. Positive chain reactions brought about by ‘knowing when enough is enough’ (gratitude)


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