“‘They Saw an Arrest’: Situation Definition, Polarization, and Affect Control Theory.

Political affiliation impacts how people understand and describe events, but it is unclear where in the event understanding process these dif- ferences originate. Using the framework of affect control theory, the authors test for political differences in three places relevant to event understanding: labeling, fundamental sentiments about labels, and transient impressions about actors and behaviors in events. To test for political differences in fundamental sentiments, the authors survey Democrats and Republicans about their views of a set of social identities and behaviors. To test for political differences in labeling and transient impressions, and how such differences may vary across events, the authors show a separate sample of participants animated videos of a police officer interacting with a civilian portrayed as either a lost child (nonpolitical condition) or an immigrant (political condition). The authors ask them to label and rate the affective meanings of the characters and their behaviors. The authors find limited political differences in fundamental affec- tive meanings of political actors. In the political but not the nonpolitical condition, the authors find substantial political differences in situation labeling and differences in transient impressions on the evaluation dimension.