How Do Autistic People View Their Empathic Capacity? Article Swipe
YOU?
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· 2022
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/gb4z3
· OA: W4281571783
This study aimed to directly seek the views of autistic participants regarding their self-perceived empathic capacity, within a wider context of self-concept. Participants were asked to complete ten statements about themselves by filling in ‘I am___’ sentences. Subsequently, participants were asked to rate their self-perceived empathy on a scale of 1-10 and provide a reason for this rating. Results demonstrated that autistic and non-autistic people made a comparable proportion of references to psychological traits, including: being funny, friendly and intelligent; however, autistic participants made a higher proportion of references to being autistic and non-autistic participants made a higher proportion of references to being happy. With regards to empathic capacity, the autistic group gave a lower mean self-rating of empathy compared to the non-autistic group – nonetheless, thematic analysis revealed both groups demonstrated cognitive and affective empathic capacity, with nuanced differences between autistic and non-autistic participants.
