The study on the process for constructing a game from a conflict in participatory planning

In this study, people´s cognitive structures on conflicts over disaster mitigation projects are studied. First, a respondent is given instruction on a background of hypothetical conflict over a reservoir project. Then a respondent is asked to choose i) actions which he/she recognizes as possible to take in the conflict, and ii) outcomes which he/she recognize as possible to be actualized. If people´s cognitive structure on a conflict is similar with game theoretic model, the choices in i) and ii) should be consistent. The result of statistical test shows that polarization exists between recognition on actions [ i) ] and outcomes [ ii) ] in some questions. The result suggests people´s prior knowledge about similar type of conflict may affect people´s cognitive structure on a conflict. From the viewpoint of participatory planning, the result of this study shows the importance of communication between stakeholders, for achieving common recognition on a conflict.