This paper introduces application examples of product developments with Kansei value using biological information and examines the development process of such a product. Discussions and guidelines for this product development process are expected to be developed at academic conferences.

We applied P300 and IAT methods to identify differences in sensory information associated with feelings of attachment to carbonated foam between regular and non-regular users. Results indicated no significant difference between the two users on subjective evaluation of carbonated foams’ sensory aspects. However, P300 analysis indicated that P300 amplitude for “white to transparent” and “fluffy snow” was significantly higher in regular users. Moreover, the IAT analysis showed that reaction times to the stimulus word, “hard foam,” was significantly delayed in regular users under the self and carbonated foam incongruent condition. These results indicate that differences in unconscious responses to visuotactile elements of carbonated foam might contribute to the feelings of attachment to carbonated foam. Collectively, P300 measurement combined with the IAT method might identify affective aspects of skin care cosmetics that are not observed in conventional surveys.

Sweets are psychologically closely related to positive emotions. The function and theory of positive emotions are being investigated in positive psychology. Further, the social implementation of psychology is done through practical efforts made in human-centered design and Kansei engineering. In Sweets Psychology, we are attempting to maintain continuous collaboration between basic research and applied research on positive emotions based on positive psychology, human-centered design, and Kansei engineering. An example of such efforts is the construction of a sweets psychological scale. We are also working on social implementation that links basic research and applied research using this psychological scale. In the future, I would like to solve social problems through basic psychological research on sweets and collaboration with business sites.

Palatability is one of most common and important emotions in our daily lives. However, there is a significant difference in how applied scientists and basic scientists understand the meaning of this word. The former believe that palatability is based on chemical components of foods and their physical character, the latter understand it as an emotional reaction, and/or an experience evoked in the brain during eating. This article explains the latter opinion and presents results of related experiments. It also suggests ways of sharing this idea with applied scientists and its practical usage, to make contribution to society by developing tasty food in the future. This article also introduces “Kansei evaluation,” which is a combination of sensory and emotional studies, created to develop foods and daily necessaries.

This paper discusses the possible contributions of emotions to the concealed information test (CIT), which is a polygraph test method. Comparing physiological activities between laboratory and field CITs suggests that examinees’ negative affect, including anxieties, might heighten tonic basal physiological activities while having little effect on phasic physiological responses to relevant items. The identical phasic physiological response patterns to relevant items in field CITs and laboratory CITs suggest that basic laboratory studies of emotions can contribute to elucidate underlying mechanisms relevant to the CIT. We have discussed how current empirical studies and approaches to emotion studies, including emotion regulation, cognitive appraisal theory, and psychological constructivism, contribute to understanding the psychological and neuroscientific mechanisms of the CIT. However, specific challenges to applying psychological findings to social use partly result from how psychologists conceive and perform empirical studies.

When wearing facial makeup to look attractive, one may want to consider the following: 1) what are the components of attractiveness that should be enhanced and 2) how are they enhanced? To examine the first issue, a web survey was conducted to investigate the image of attractive women that Japanese women have in their mind, and the facial features that are associated with the image. Results showed that apart from physical appearance, the attractiveness associated with inner beauty also plays an important role in determining the image of attractive women. With regard to facial features, items related to facial expression were rated as more important than those related to other features such as configuration, skin texture and shape and size of features. Furthermore, the priority of the facial features they see when perceiving women’s attractiveness differs among respondents. To explore the second issue, we interviewed artists to gain insights about how inner beauty and other abstract concepts can be expressed through the face. This paper summarizes the findings obtained from these studies and suggests the possibility of an integrated contribution by art and psychology in embodying and understanding abstract concepts.

Medical professionals deal with the expression of various emotions on the part of patients and families. In particular, negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety, and anger, require medical professionals to assess and respond to the patient’s mental state.

This section the study of the emotions in cancer patients, and discuss the intervention methods, focusing on the negative emotions experienced by patients undergoing medical treatment for cancer. Because not all cancer patients feel negative emotions in the same way, such emotions and individual differences in psychological characteristics, including emotional suppression and trait anxiety and intervention methods, are explained. Further, among the negative emotions, we focus on anger expressed by cancer patients.

While providing psychological support to cancer patients, it is important to focus not only on the negative emotions but also on the positive aspects. Psychological support is becoming more important for cancer patients, and it is expected that there will be additional developments in emotional research in the future.

This paper examines the effect of the development and implementation of digital technologies on affective research. First, by reviewing recent research utilizing digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and extended reality, we argued that digital technologies would allow 1) for a higher degree of freedom in controlling the environment in which affective research is conducted, 2) for expanding the situation in which affect-related data is acquired, and 3) for automatic and real-time analysis of affect-related data. Next, we discussed how the expansion of the field of affective research will promote implementation by bridging the gap between the laboratory and field. Furthermore, we described the possibility of new forms of implementation centered on digital technology arising. Finally, we discussed the possibilities and challenges of expanding extending affective research with digital technology, as well as the construction of an R&D ecosystem between research institutions and private companies centered on digital technology.

In this study, we developed two types of behavioral interventions for discouraging smartphone use during walking based on nudge theory and tested their effectiveness in a real-life setting. One nudge was based on the idea of social learning. Pedestrians were presented with short animations through a digital signage reminder about children learning and imitating behaviors by watching adults. The other focused on behavioral fun. Pedestrians were challenged to do “beauty walking” in the walkway and then were shown a feedback animation. If they did not use their smartphone while walking, the animation displayed a fashion model character doing a good runway walk. If they used their smartphone, a bad runway walk animation was shown. As a result, both types of nudges discouraged pedestrians from keeping their smartphones. The latter fun nudge could also encourage them to continue not using their smartphones. Further, those interviewed reacted positively to these nudges. These findings are discussed in the light of prevailing practices for preventing texting while walking using appeals to fear and anxiety.

This study is to focus on factors on well-being and ill-being at work, and to develop a scale to measure quantitatively states of employees’ well-being. The proposed scales consist of the well-being scale (7 factors: 67 items) and the ill-being scale (7 factors: 62 items) at work, which will be positioned as subcategories of existing scales on the subjective well-being such as SWLS (Diner et al., 1985) and Maeno’s four factors of happiness (Maeno, 2013). Identified factors are expected to be used in the fields of career development for individual employees and human resource management, in order to improve the state of well-being and ill-being at work.

This article is based on the special lecture presented at the joint meeting of the 40th and the 30th annual conventions of the Japanese Society for Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology and the Japan Society for Research on Emotions, respectively, held at Kwansei Gakuin University on May 28, 2022. In the first half, recent research trends of psychology of emotion were reviewed based on the handbooks of emotion, edited first by M. Lewis and J. M. Haviland in 1993 and followed by its three revised editions in 2000, 2008, and 2016.The psychology of emotion was recognized as an independent research area during 1980s, which developed rapidly during 1990s and into the interdisciplinary affective science in the 21st century. In the second half, recent research trends of physiological psychology were reviewed based on the handbooks on psychophysiology edited by Cacioppo and his colleagues first in 1990 and later revised in 2000, 2007, and 2017. Physiological psychology, born around 1960, showed dramatic changes especially during 1990s called “the decade of the brain,” and developed into interdisciplinary behavioral neuroscience in the 21st century assisted by the development of new technologies. Among the research areas having shown dramatic growth is the affective neuroscience, which proves the significance of this joint convention.