Recent advances in the study of political attitudes and behavior have incorporated neurobiological methods to elucidate the basic affective and cognitive processes that support political decisions. This review integrates perspectives in political neuroscience research and focuses on the neurobiological bases of system justification — the motivation to regard the existing social system as legitimate and desirable. Neuroscientific evidence indicates that system justification and propensity to engage in political protest are associated with interindividual differences in amygdala structure. This suggests the possibility that our inclinations to protect versus protest the status quo are linked to our biological responses. Much of the promise of using neuroscience approaches in this interdisciplinary work lies in future investigations to help clarify outstanding questions about the palliative function of system justification and the neurocognitive bases of political participation.

政治态度和行为研究的最新进展已经纳入了神经生物学方法，以阐明支持政治决策的基本情感和认知过程。这篇综述整合了政治神经科学研究的观点，并着重于系统辩护的神经生物学基础，即将现有社会系统视为合法和可取的动机。神经科学的证据表明，参与政治抗议的系统合理性和倾向与杏仁核结构的个体差异有关。这表明我们保护和抗议现状的意愿与我们的生物学反应有关。