Social Distance Toward Autistic Individuals
Description
This study examined how interpersonal characteristics, including empathic concern, perspective taking, and autism awareness, were jointly associated with social distance toward autistic individuals. Social distance—the unwillingness to form social connections with members of a particular group—was used as an indicator of stigma toward autistic individuals. The results showed that greater empathic concern, perspective taking, and autism awareness were each associated with lower levels of social distance. Further analyses revealed that autism awareness moderated the association between empathic concern and social distance, such that greater autism awareness buffered the adverse effects of lower empathic concern on social distance. These findings suggest that educational initiatives and interventions aimed at increasing autism awareness may help reduce social distance toward autistic individuals, particularly among individuals with lower levels of empathic concern. Implications for stigma reduction efforts and directions for future research are discussed.
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Institutions
- University of Louisiana at LafayetteLouisiana, Lafayette