Research in political science has begun to incorporate concepts from cognitive science and neuroscience. Most such work explores social influences on preferences (e.g., viewing photos of candidates) or identifies physiological/neural responses that correlate with political orientation (e.g., harm avoidance).

A key challenge for ongoing research on voter choice has been to understand how policy positions interact with voter identities. Recent work indicates that political engagement is greater for individuals who view partisanship as part of one's identity, compared to those who view partisanship through the lens of ideology and issue positions [75].

Social neuroscience has identified the temporal parietal junction (TPJ) as a potential substrate for tracking identities within social networks, with concomitant influences on decision making.