scholarly journals Autistic traits, empathizing-systemizing, and gender variance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Hendriks ◽  
Yimeng Wei ◽  
Varun Warrier ◽  
Gareth Richards
Keyword(s):  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Gender Variance ◽  
Gender Variant ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
Extreme Male Brain ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Extreme Male Brain Theory

Previous research indicates a link between autism and gender variance, though the basis for this association is not fully understood. The current study examined autistic traits (as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient [AQ]) and empathizing and systemizing (as measured by the Empathizing Quotient-Short [EQ-S] and Systemizing Quotient-Short [SQ-S]) in a sample of n=89 UK adults representing a broad range of gender identities and sexual orientations. Compared with cisgender individuals (i.e. those who identify as the same gender as that assigned at birth), gender variant participants had significantly higher AQ and SQ-S scores, and stronger systemizing relative to empathizing (D-score). Further analysis revealed that there were significant differences between cisgender females and those assigned female at birth who do not identify as female (transgender AFAB), but not between cisgender males and those assigned male at birth who do not identify as male (transgender AMAB). These findings are broadly in line with the extreme male brain theory of autism, and may be relevant for developing effective support for gender variant and/or autistic individuals.

scholarly journals Sex differences in eye gaze and symbolic cueing of attention

2005 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Bayliss ◽  
Giuseppe di Pellegrino ◽  
Steven P. Tipper
Keyword(s):  
Normal Population ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Exogenous Orienting ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
Attention Systems ◽  
Symbolic Cues ◽  
Extreme Male Brain Theory ◽  
Gaze Cues

Observing a face with averted eyes results in a reflexive shift of attention to the gazed-at location. Here we present results that show that this effect is weaker in males than in females (Experiment 1). This result is predicted by the ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism (Baron-Cohen, 2003), which suggests that males in the normal population should display more autism-like traits than females (e.g., poor joint attention). Indeed, participants′ scores on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Stott, Bolton, & Goodyear, 2001) negatively correlated with cueing magnitude. Furthermore, exogenous orienting did not differ between the sexes in two peripheral cueing experiments (Experiments 2a and 2b). However, a final experiment showed that using non-predictive arrows instead of eyes as a central cue also revealed a large gender difference. This demonstrates that reduced orienting from central cues in males generalizes beyond gaze cues. These results show that while peripheral cueing is equivalent in the male and female brains, the attention systems of the two sexes treat noninformative symbolic cues very differently.

scholarly journals "The Extreme Male Brain?" Incrementum and the Rhetorical Gendering of Autism

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordynn Jack
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Service Economy ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Extreme Male Brain ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
And Gender

<p>The rhetorical figure of the <em>incrementum</em>, or scale<em>, </em>can help to account for how autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been gendered as male, especially in Simon Baron-Cohen&rsquo;s "Extreme Male Brain" theory. The <em>incrementum</em> occurs when female, male, and autistic brains are placed along a scale according to systemizing and empathizing abilities. This double hierarchy reinforces popular beliefs about sex and gender, drawing on the cultural resources of hi-tech culture, the service economy, and geekiness. In so doing, these theories overlook other important aspects of ASD, including alternative theories, the presence of autistic women and girls, and the needs and interests of autistic people themselves.</p>

scholarly journals Altered neuronal habituation to hearing others’ pain in adults with autistic traits

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Meng ◽  
Zuoshan Li ◽  
Lin Shen
Keyword(s):  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Passive Listening ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Listening Task

Abstract This study tested the hypothesis that autistic traits influence the neuronal habituation that underlies the processing of others’ pain. Based on their autism-spectrum quotient (AQ), two groups of participants were classified according to their autistic traits: High-AQ and Low-AQ groups. Their event-related potentials in response to trains of three identical audio recordings, exhibiting either painful or neutral feelings of others, were compared during three experimental tasks. (1) In a Pain Judgment Task, participants were instructed to focus on pain-related cues in the presented audio recordings. (2) In a Gender Judgment Task, participants were instructed to focus on non-pain-related cues in the presented audio recordings. (3) In a Passive Listening Task, participants were instructed to passively listen. In the High-AQ group, an altered empathic pattern of habituation, indexed by frontal-central P2 responses of the second repeated painful audio recordings, was found during the Passive Listening Task. Nevertheless, both High-AQ and Low-AQ groups exhibited similar patterns of habituation to hearing others’ voices, both neutral and painful, in the Pain Judgment and Gender Judgment Tasks. These results suggest altered empathic neuronal habituation in the passive processing of others’ vocal pain by individuals with autistic traits.

Testing the Extreme Male Brain Theory of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Familial Design

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingeborg Hauth ◽  
Yvette G. E. de Bruijn ◽  
Wouter Staal ◽  
Jan K. Buitelaar ◽  
Nanda N. Rommelse
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Extreme Male Brain ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
Extreme Male Brain Theory

scholarly journals Testing the Empathizing–Systemizing theory of sex differences and the Extreme Male Brain theory of autism in half a million people

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (48) ◽  
pp. 12152-12157 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Greenberg ◽  
Varun Warrier ◽  
Carrie Allison ◽  
Simon Baron-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Short Forms ◽  
Extreme Type ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Extreme Male Brain ◽  
Small Sample Sizes

The Empathizing–Systemizing (E-S) theory of typical sex differences suggests that individuals may be classified based on empathy and systemizing. An extension of the E-S theory, the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory suggests that autistic people on average have a shift towards a more masculinized brain along the E-S dimensions. Both theories have been investigated in small sample sizes, limiting their generalizability. Here we leverage two large datasets (discovery n = 671,606, including 36,648 autistic individuals primarily; and validation n = 14,354, including 226 autistic individuals) to investigate 10 predictions of the E-S and the EMB theories. In the discovery dataset, typical females on average showed higher scores on short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ), and typical males on average showed higher scores on short forms of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Systemizing Quotient (SQ). Typical sex differences in these measures were attenuated in autistic individuals. Analysis of “brain types” revealed that typical females on average were more likely to be Type E (EQ > SQ) or Extreme Type E and that typical males on average were more likely to be Type S (SQ > EQ) or Extreme Type S. In both datasets, autistic individuals, regardless of their reported sex, on average were “masculinized.” Finally, we demonstrate that D-scores (difference between EQ and SQ) account for 19 times more of the variance in autistic traits (43%) than do other demographic variables including sex. Our results provide robust evidence in support of both the E-S and EMB theories.

scholarly journals Autistic traits, systemising, empathising, and theory of mind in transgender and non-binary adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karson T. F. Kung
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
General Population ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Gender Minority ◽  
Extreme Male Brain ◽  
Empathy Quotient ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
Extreme Male Brain Theory ◽  
Transgender Men

Abstract Background Prior research examining autistic traits in gender minority adults has reported mixed findings. Most prior studies did not include non-binary individuals. Little is known about the mechanisms shaping autistic traits in gender minority adults. This study examined autistic traits, as well as constructs related to the extreme male brain theory of autism and the mindblindness theory, in transgender and non-binary adults. Methods An online survey was conducted to assess autism-related traits in 323 gender minority adults, including 74 transgender men (individuals assigned female at birth and identify as a man), 95 transgender women (individuals assigned male at birth and identify as a woman), 104 non-binary AFAB (individuals assigned female at birth and identify as non-binary), and 50 non-binary AMAB (individuals assigned male at birth and identify as non-binary). Autistic traits, systemising, empathising, and Theory of Mind (ToM) were measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the short forms of the Systemising Quotient (SQ-Short) and the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short), the 10-item version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-10) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Eyes Test). Participants’ scores on these measures were compared with previously published scores based on large-scale general population samples including thousands of participants. Results On average, compared with control females in the general population samples, both transgender men and non-binary AFAB scored significantly higher on the AQ and the SQ-Short but scored significantly lower on the EQ-Short, the EQ-10, and the Eyes Test. No clear or consistent group differences emerged when transgender women and non-binary AMAB were compared with control males. Limitations The present study does not have a large sample of gender minority adults. It has been argued that the measures employed may not provide a precise assessment of the psychological constructs of interest. The present study has a “non-clinical” sample. However, not all gender minorities have access to or require clinical services, and so a “non-clinical” sample may be more representative of the gender minority community as a whole than samples recruited through clinics. Conclusions The current findings suggest a “masculinised” autism-related profile and reduced ToM in transgender men and in non-binary AFAB. These findings might be interpreted to support the extreme male brain theory of autism and the mindblindness theory. Further research is needed to corroborate these findings.

Autism and Gender

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordynn Jack
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Male Brain ◽  
The Media ◽  
Brain Theory ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Rhetorical Inquiry ◽  
Gender Influences ◽  
Systematic Thinking ◽  
Extreme Male Brain Theory

The reasons behind the increase in autism diagnoses have become hotly contested in the media as well as within the medical, scholarly, and autistic communities. This book suggests the proliferating number of discussions point to autism as a rhetorical phenomenon that engenders attempts to persuade through arguments, appeals to emotions, and representational strategies. The book focuses on the ways gender influences popular discussion and understanding of autism's causes and effects. It identifies gendered theories like the “refrigerator mother” theory, for example, which blames emotionally distant mothers for autism, and the “extreme male brain” theory, which links autism to the modes of systematic thinking found in male computer geeks. The book's analysis reveals how people employ such highly gendered theories to craft rhetorical narratives around stock characters—fix-it dads, heroic mother warriors rescuing children from autism—that advocate for ends beyond the story itself while also allowing the storyteller to gain authority, understand the disorder, and take part in debates. The book reveals the ways we build narratives around controversial topics while offering new insights into the ways rhetorical inquiry can and does contribute to conversations about gender and disability.

scholarly journals The extreme male brain revisited: gender coherence in adults with autism spectrum disorder

2012 ◽  
Vol 201 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Bejerot ◽  
Jonna M. Eriksson ◽  
Sabina Bonde ◽  
Kjell Carlström ◽  
Mats B. Humble ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Extreme Male Brain

BackgroundThe ‘extreme male brain’ theory suggests that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an extreme variant of male intelligence. However, somewhat paradoxically, many individuals with ASD display androgynous physical features regardless of gender.AimsTo assess physical measures, supposedly related to androgen influence, in adults with and without ASD.MethodSerum hormone levels, anthropometry, the ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length (2D:4D) and psychiatric symptomatology were measured in 50 adults with high-functioning ASD and age- and gender-matched neurotypical controls. Photographs of face and body, as well as voice recordings, were obtained and assessed with respect to gender coherence, blindly and independently, by eight assessors.ResultsWomen with ASD had higher total and bioactive testosterone levels, less feminine facial features and a larger head circumference than female controls. Men in the ASD group were assessed as having less masculine body characteristics and voice quality, and displayed higher (i.e. less masculine) 2D:4D ratios, but similar testosterone levels to controls. Androgynous facial features correlated strongly and positively with autistic traits measured with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient in the total sample. In males and females with ASD dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate did not decrease with age, in contrast to the control group.ConclusionsWomen with ASD had elevated testosterone levels and several masculinised characteristics compared with controls, whereas men with ASD displayed several feminised characteristics. Our findings suggest that ASD, rather than being characterised by masculinisation in both genders, may constitute a gender defiant disorder.

scholarly journals Diachronic Tendency and Thinking Style Across the Broader Autism Spectrum: Sources of Individual Differences?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stian Orm ◽  
Ella Holt Holmberg ◽  
Paul L. Harris ◽  
Maria Nunez ◽  
Francisco Pons
Keyword(s):  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Broader Autism Phenotype ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Inner Speech ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Thinking Style ◽  
Mental Images ◽  
High School Degree ◽  
Future Events

Abstract Objectives First, to see whether previous studies showing a limited capacity to spontaneously evoke the past and the future of a present moment (diachronic tendency) and a prevalence of mental images over inner speech (thinking style) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder could be replicated in individuals belonging to the broader autism phenotype. Second, to test the hypothesis that individuals thinking with mental images have a more limited diachronic tendency compared with individuals thinking with inner speech. Methods Adults (N = 309, Mage = 31.5 years, 76% women) with at least a high school degree were assessed with the Autism Spectrum Quotient, a test of diachronic tendency comprising four pictures varying in social interactivity and dynamicity, and a thinking style scale comprising three items representing three different everyday situations. Results The results showed that adults with many autistic traits have a limited diachronic tendency but only when the situation is socially interactive and dynamic, think more in mental images than individuals with no or few autistic traits but nevertheless still think more with inner speech than with mental images, and the more the participants reported thinking in inner speech, the more they evoked past and future events when describing a socially interactive and dynamic situation. Conclusions More autistic traits are associated with a limited diachronic tendency in socially interactive and dynamic situations and more thinking in mental images, and thinking style could be one of the determinants of diachronic tendency in socially interactive and dynamic situations.

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