FAccT 2027 Research Topic Study
Research Direction 2: Algorithmic Mediation of Quasi-Clinical Discourse and Auditing Gendered Psychological Ontologies 1. Theoretical Genealogy: Connecting Two Traditions of “Anxiety” The theoretical impetus of this study arises from bridging two psychological paradigms that have historically evolved in parallel isolation: Adult Attachment Theory: Grounded in the study of threat appraisal and affect regulation within close relationships, this tradition conceptualizes attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance as distinct relational regulation strategies. Contemporary empirical research increasingly treats these constructs not as rigid, immutable personality typologies, but as continuous, relationship-specific, and context-dependent dimensions. Occupational Stress & Job Strain Research: Since Robert Karasek’s seminal formulation of the Job Demand–Control Model, this discipline has demonstrated that acute psychological strain arises from the structural convergence of high external demands and low decision latitude (autonomy). In short, subjective strain and anxiety do not simply scale with the volume of responsibility borne by an individual, but depend fundamentally on the degree of substantive control they exercise over the processes generating those outcomes. We do not claim that these two forms of “anxiety” are psychometrically identical. Rather, we propose a structural bridging hypothesis: an individual’s behavioral manifestation of anxiety, withdrawal, or avoidance in intimate relationships is largely a situational regulation policy deployed in response to specific configurations of autonomy–responsibility–control, rather than an immutable personality trait. ...