ACT for Change: Harnessing Affect Control Theory to Solve Social Problems

Affect control theory (ACT) is a formal, mathematical theory that explains how cultural affective meanings for identities and behaviors shape impressions of events and guide social action in ways that often contribute to inequality. The theory has been applied to a variety of social problems of broad scholarly and public interest, such as workplace inequality, bias in criminal sentencing, stigma management, violent victimization and perpetration, mental health disparities, political conflict and polarization, algorithmic bias, and the transmission of misinformation. A growing number of scholars are now leveraging ACT to better understand and develop interventions that address important problems such as these. ACT for Change: Harnessing Affect Control Theory to Solve Social Problems will foster knowledge sharing and collaboration among scholars interested in leveraging affect control theory to understand and solve pressing social problems. 

We are grateful to the following sponsors at Dartmouth College for their generous support of this event: Department of Sociology, Office of the Provost, Neukom Institute for Computational Science, Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, and Office of the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences.