About Us
What is Affective Science?
Affective science is the scientific study of emotion and related phenomena (e.g., moods, stress, attitudes, valuation, motivation). Research in affective science focuses on a broad set of topics, including the role of emotions and related phenomena in social perceptions, group processes, interpersonal relationships, communication, personality, memory and learning, decision making, artificial intelligence, pain, and mental and physical health. Affective science also concerns how these phenomena impact and are impacted by lifespan development, culture, and language. Affective science is of critical importance for addressing some of the most pressing issues in human society, including interventions for health and well-being, development of government policy, fostering political tolerance, social justice, educational achievement, developments in computing, and advancements in medical practice and treatment.
Our Vision
A world where humankind acknowledges the origins, functions, and consequences of affect on all aspects of behavior, experience, and physiology.
Our Mission
We advance, innovate, and disseminate affective science, serving as the natural home for scientists in basic and applied areas, who engage in affective science, broadly defined.
How do we do this?
Through a strong governance structure and culture of innovation, we advance and promote the science of our members, train the next generation of scientists, and disseminate our science to the world for the benefit of humankind.
Our Values
With an open, welcome, and collaborative mindset, we value:
- Diversity – members, across many different disciplines, identities, personal backgrounds, career stages, and scientific perspectives, are actively engaged in our mission
- Support – members are provided with opportunities for training, mentorship, and development at all stages of their career
- Innovation – grounded in empirical evidence and the current state of the science, we lead innovation in theories & methods to produce impactful outcomes
- Sharing – our members benefit from access to our collective resources, methodological advances, and community of scholars. We widely share our science as a means of broadening the understanding of how affect influences all that we do as humans.
Executive Leadership
Awards Committee
Chair: Maya Tamir, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Past Chair: Elaine Fox, The University of Adelaide
Phoebe Ellsworth, University of Michigan
Dylan Gee, Yale University
Katie Hoemann, KU Leuven
Seth Pollack, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Anthony Ong, Cornell University
Jonathan Stange, University of Southern California
Membership/Outreach Committee
Co-Chair: Stephanie M. Carpenter, Arizona State University (email)
Co-Chair: Nicole A. Roberts, Arizona State University (email)
Newsletter Subcommittee
Lead: Katie Hoemann, KU Leuven
Angelina Sung, Colorado State University
Jennifer Ouyang, University of Southern California
Marissa Ogren, Rutgers University
Listserv Subcommittee
Lead: Jolie Wormwood, University of New Hampshire
Daisuke Ueno, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
Jennifer Ouyang, University of Southern California
Year-Round Events Subcommittee
Lead: Darwin Guevarra, University of California, San Francisco
Anthony Atkinson, Durham University
Jolie Wormwood, University of New Hampshire
Website Review Subcommittee
Lead: Marissa Ogren, Rutgers University
Anthony Atkinson, Durham University
Daisuke Ueno, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
Angelina Sung, Colorado State University
Social Media Subcommittee
Lead: Magdalena Rychlowska, Queens University Belfast
Steven Most, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Publications Committee
Chair: Yulia Chentsova-Dutton, Georgetown University [email]
Jonathan Gratch, University of Southern California
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow
Sandra Langeslag, University of Missouri – St. Louis
Past Chair: Carien van Reekum, University of Reading
Student Committee
Chair: Kyle Barrentine, University of Virginia
Eva Liu, Yale University
Livia Sacchi, University of Lausanne
Dasha Yermol, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Pooja Kulkarni, University of Mumbai
Amy Gregory, McGill University
Natali Barragan, Arizona State University
Ellen Zheng, Arizona State University
Victoria Hart-Derrick, Yale University
Jennifer Ouyang, University of Southern California
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
Chair: Michelle (Lani) Shiota, Arizona State University
Derek Isaacowitz, Northeastern University
Joseph Mikels, DePaul University
Yuri Miyamoto, Hitotsubashi University
Jose Soto, Pennsylvania State University
Kyle Barrentine, University of Virginia
Livia Sacchi, University of Lausanne
Leadership Archive
Founders: Lisa Feldman Barrett and James Gross
Past Presidents:
2014: James Gross, Stanford University
2015: Lisa Feldman Barrett, Northeastern University
2016: Wendy Berry Mendes, University of California, San Francisco
2017: Kevin Ochsner, Columbia University
2018: Ann Kring, University of California, Berkeley
2019: Robert Levenson, University of California, Berkeley
2020: Paula Niedenthal, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2021: Barbara Fredrickson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2022: Elaine Fox, University of Oxford
2023: Maya Tamir, The Hebrew University
Contact Us
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Volunteer
We’re looking for volunteers! Contact us and indicate which area you’d like to help out with.