My Story
I'm Austin Tamargo, creator of Affective Socialization Theory (AST). I grew up experiencing high material strain—periods of insecurity around housing, food, and stability. For a time, I was in survival mode (the Yellow Zone), making decisions I'm not proud of. I did things online, including begging for money during livestreams, that later brought me public scrutiny and harassment that continues to this day.
But I changed my environment. I found stability and started to rewire my life. That experience led me to ask: how do environments shape who we become? Why do some people get stuck in survival mode while others thrive? Affective Socialization Theory is the answer I've been building ever since.
My past isn't something I hide—it's the data that gave birth to this theory. I lived through high Material Strain (MAT), experienced the Yellow Zone, and through changing my environment, began the process of rewiring. That experience is in every equation I write.
The AST Lens
My life illustrates AST perfectly:
- High MAT: Periods of material deprivation and insecurity
- Yellow Zone: Survival mode, hypervigilance, decisions I later regretted
- Coercive CCC: Environments that punished rather than supported
- High HV: Chaotic, unpredictable conditions
- Turning Point: Finding stability, changing my environment, beginning to rewire
- Green Zone: Creating conditions for learning, growth, and building this theory
I'm not a scientist who studied suffering from a distance. I'm someone who lived it and built a framework to understand it.
My Mission
To provide a scientific framework that explains how social conditions become biological reality—and to help build environments where everyone can flourish. AST shows that what we call "mental illness" is often accurate calibration to a sick environment. The goal isn't just to treat individuals, but to transform the conditions that shape us.
Read more about the values behind this work in my Ethics & Spirituality page.