Abstract: There are two paths to the transmission of the oil crisis: entity path and psychological path. In terms of the entity path, it mainly presents the transmission way of “oil crisis-economic crisis-social crisis”; while from the psychological path, it is “oil crisis-psychological crisis-behavioral disorder-social disorder”. At the administrative level, Japan has designed and implemented the “New Energy Development Policy”, “Diversified Energy Import Policy”, “Energy Diversification Policy”, “Energy saving policy” and “oil storage policy” for the purpose of building a stable social “mental set” from different perspectives, such as weakening, avoiding, dispersing, diluting, and transferring. At the legal level, the “Oil 2 bills”(the “Oil Supply and Demand Rationalization Act”, the “Act on Emergency Measures for the Stabilization of National Life”, the “Oil Substitution Legislation”, the “Oil storage Legislation”, and the “Energy Conservation Act” and so on)have been designed from the perspectives of “long-term”, “mandatory”, “strategic” and “universal”. In addition, in order to implement the top-level policy system smoothly and effectively, Japan has accordingly designed incentive policies in funds, taxes, rewards and penalties. From empirical facts, the policy system and its interactive coupling at the administrative level, the legal level and the incentive level have laid a foundation for gradually forming a calm and orderly “psychological set” from different angles such as “stability”, “relief”, “ease” and “convenience”.

Key words: oil crisis, social crisis, mental set, transmission, top-level design