The University of Texas at Dallas, USA.
University of Stirling, UK.
Autism. 2024 Aug;28(8):2053-2065. doi: 10.1177/13623613231219743. Epub 2023 Dec 27.
The "double empathy problem" refers to breakdowns in communication and understanding that frequently occur between autistic and non-autistic people. Previous studies have shown that autistic people often establish better rapport and connection when interacting with other autistic people compared to when interacting with non-autistic people, but it is unclear whether this is noticeable to non-autistic observers. In this study, 102 non-autistic undergraduate students viewed and rated video recordings of "get to know you" conversations between pairs of autistic and non-autistic adults. Sometimes the pairs were two autistic people, sometimes they were two non-autistic people, and sometimes they were "mixed" interactions of one autistic and one non-autistic person. Observers tended to rate non-autistic participants and their interactions the most favorably, but-consistent with the "double empathy problem"-they rated mixed interactions between autistic and non-autistic people as the least successful. They also perceived that only non-autistic people disclosed more when interacting with a non-autistic conversation partner. Autistic participants' partners in the conversations tended to evaluate them more favorably than did outside observers, suggesting that personal contact may facilitate more positive evaluations of autistic people. Furthermore, observers expressed less social interest in participants than did the autistic and non-autistic participants in the interactions. Together, these findings suggest that non-autistic observers both detect and demonstrate some aspects of the double empathy problem.
“双重同理心问题”是指自闭症患者和非自闭症患者之间经常出现的沟通和理解障碍。先前的研究表明,自闭症患者在与其他自闭症患者互动时,往往比与非自闭症患者互动时更容易建立良好的融洽关系和联系,但目前尚不清楚非自闭症观察者是否能注意到这一点。在这项研究中,102 名非自闭症本科学生观看并对自闭症和非自闭症成年人之间“相互了解”对话的视频记录进行了评分。有时是两个自闭症患者,有时是两个非自闭症患者,有时则是一个自闭症患者和一个非自闭症患者的“混合”互动。观察者往往会对非自闭症参与者及其互动评价最高,但与“双重同理心问题”一致,他们对自闭症患者和非自闭症患者之间的混合互动评价最低。他们还认为,只有非自闭症患者在与非自闭症对话伙伴互动时才会更多地透露信息。在对话中,自闭症参与者的伙伴往往比外部观察者更积极地评价他们,这表明个人接触可能有助于对自闭症患者进行更积极的评价。此外,观察者对参与者的社交兴趣低于互动中的自闭症和非自闭症参与者。这些发现表明,非自闭症观察者既可以察觉到,也可以表现出双重同理心问题的某些方面。