Exotic dancers in an awkward negotiation: Implications for affect control theory

Current theories of occupational status conceptualize it as either a function of cultural esteem or the symbolic aspect of the class structure. Based on Weber’s definition of status as rooted in either cultural or class conditions, we argue that a consistent operationalization of occupational status must account for both of these dimensions. Using quantitative measures of cultural sentiments for occupational identities, we use affect control theory to model the network deference relations across occupations. We calculate a measure of the extent to which one occupational actor deferring to another is incongruent with cultural expectations for all possible combinations of 304 occupational titles. Because high-status actors are less likely to defer to low-status actors, the degree to which these events violate cultural expectations provides an indicator of the relative status position of different occupations. We assess the construct validity of our new deference score measure using Harris Poll data. Deference scores are more predictive of status rankings from poll data than are occupational prestige scores. We establish criterion validity using five theoretically relevant workplace outcomes: subjective work attachment, job satisfaction, general happiness, the importance of meaningful work, and perceived respect at work.

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Can we distill fundamental sentiments from natural language use? Evaluating word embeddings as a complement to survey-based ratings of affective meaning.

10.31235/osf.io/r7ewx ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Austin van Loon ◽

Jeremy Freese

Keyword(s):

Control Theory ◽

Computational Linguistics ◽

Language Use ◽

Word Embeddings ◽

Affect Control Theory ◽

Affective Meaning ◽

Shared Meanings ◽

Affect Control ◽

Text Corpora ◽

Behavioral Method

Central to affect control theory are culturally shared meanings of concepts. That these sentiments overlap among members of a culture presumably reflects their roots in the language use that members observe. Yet the degree to which the affective meaning of a concept is encoded in the way linguistic representations of that concept are used in everyday symbolic exchange has yet to be demonstrated. The question has methodological as well as theoretical significance for affect control theory, as language may provide an unobtrusive, behavioral method of obtaining EPA ratings complementary to those heretofore obtained via questionnaires. We pursue a series of studies that evaluate whether tools from machine learning and computational linguistics can capture the fundamental affective meaning of concepts from large text corpora. We develop an algorithm that uses word embeddings to predict EPA profiles available from a recent EPA dictionary derived from traditional questionnaires, as well as novel concepts collected using an open-source web app we have developed. Across both a held-out portion of the available data as well as the novel data, our predictions correlate with survey-based measures of the E, P, and A ratings of concepts at a magnitude greater than 0.85, 0.8, and 0.75 respectively.

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The Gender Gap in Business Leadership: Exploring an Affect Control Theory Explanation

Social Psychology Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0190272518806292 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 82 (1) ◽

pp. 75-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Amy Kroska ◽

Trent C. Cason

Keyword(s):

Control Theory ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Women Executives ◽

Business Leadership ◽

Affect Control Theory ◽

Business Executives ◽

Affect Control ◽

Computer Simulation Program ◽

Using Data ◽

Interactional Processes

We use affect control theory (ACT) and its computer simulation program, Interact, to theoretically model the interactional dynamics that women and men business executives are likely to face in the workplace, and we show how these dynamics may contribute to the gender gap in business leadership. Using data from 520 simulated events and two analysis strategies, we use ACT to develop empirically grounded hypotheses regarding these processes. The simulations suggest that women executives face a wider range of situations that require gender deviance than men executives, many of which may be unavoidable (e.g., confronting an unreliable employee). They also suggest that observers will attribute negative characteristics to both women and men executives who engage in a gender-deviant action but that the characteristics attributed to gender-deviant women executives (e.g., ruthless, sadistic) move their identity further from the affective meaning of “an executive” than the characteristics attributed to comparably gender-deviant men executives (e.g., awestruck, gullible), patterns that are likely to make the path to and retention of business leadership positions more difficult for women. We also discuss how our approach could be used to theorize about interactional processes underlying other inequalities, including those based on race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, disability, and age.

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The Social Psychology of Occupational Status Groups: Relationality in the Structure of Deference

Social Psychology Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0190272520902455 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 83 (4) ◽

pp. 463-475

Author(s):

Emily Maloney

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Social Network ◽

Control Theory ◽

Occupational Status ◽

Affect Control Theory ◽

Relational Patterns ◽

Affect Control ◽

The Social ◽

Network Methods ◽

Better Than

Affect Control Theory (ACT) can predict the average deference that occupational identities receive from others. These “deference scores” can capture occupational status better than previous operationalizations of prestige. Combining this new measurement of occupational status with social network methods, this article explores the underlying relational patterns hidden within Freeland and Hoey’s (2018) scores of average deference. I construct a complete network of deference relations across 303 occupational identities using Bayesian ACT simulations. A blockmodel analysis of this network resulted in four positions within the occupational deference structure: everyday specialists, service-to-society occupations, the disagreeably powerful, and the actively revered. These are occupational classes that defer to the same occupational identities and receive deference from the same occupations. Exploring the reduced blockmodel provides a more complete depiction of the occupational status structure as measured by ACT.

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The Advantaged Cause: Affect Control Theory and Social Movements

Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World ◽

10.1177/2378023119841811 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 237802311984181

Author(s):

Kelly Bergstrand

Keyword(s):

Social Movements ◽

Control Theory ◽

Public Support ◽

Strong Support ◽

Public Concern ◽

Cultural Perceptions ◽

Affect Control Theory ◽

Affect Control ◽

Core Components

The role of grievances in drawing public concern and activist support is a surprisingly understudied topic in modern social movement literature. This research is the first to parse issues into core components to understand whether some grievances are more successful than others in evoking reactions that can benefit social movements. Specifically, I use concepts and measures developed by affect control theory scholars that tap into cultural perceptions of the goodness or badness of behaviors and identities to investigate how people react to different configurations of good or bad perpetrators, behaviors, and victims in mobilizing events. I find strong support, across outcomes, that evaluations of goodness and badness in grievances affect people’s willingness to care about an issue or support a campaign. This provides insights into both the types of movements more likely to be successful as well as the types of social problems less likely to draw public support.

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