Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Autistic Individuals: A Review

Abstract

More autistic individuals are entering universities and the workforce than ever before. Yet, autistic university students experience social difficulties when transitioning to college such as social anxiety and social exclusion from their peers, and autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed. One reason for these negative experiences is the attitudes others hold toward autistic individuals. In this narrative review, we summarize the literature on explicit and implicit attitudes toward autistic individuals. Our review suggests that, while explicit attitudes toward autistic individuals as a group generally are positive, willingness to engage with autistic individuals, particularly in close proximity, may be more negative. Regarding implicit attitudes, most of which are assessed via reaction-time based methods, the findings are less nuanced. That is, regardless of the measure used, implicit attitudes toward autistic people tend to be negative in children, college students, and adults, including those who work with autistic populations. This article also considers factors that moderate these attitudes including previous contact with autistic individuals, knowledge of autism, and providing a label for autistic individuals. We review interventions designed to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals, which generally suggest that educational materials can have positive effects on explicit attitudes, but the effects of trainings on implicit attitudes are more variable. Regarding training, best practices include providing facts about autism that include the challenges and strengths associated with autism as well as providing perspectives from autistic people themselves. Finally, we provide suggestions for future directions.

Community Brief

Why is this an important issue?

Studying the attitudes that neurotypical adults hold toward autistic individuals is important, as negative attitudes can lead to negative judgments about and discrimination toward autistic people.

What was the purpose of this review?

In this review, we summarize the literature on two different types of attitudes toward autistic individuals: explicit and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are conscious such that individuals are aware of and can acknowledge their attitudes. Implicit attitudes are unconscious, with individuals potentially being unaware of their attitudes.

What did the authors do to review the literature? What studies did the author find?

The authors searched online databases to find articles containing the term autism and the following words: attitude, implicit, explicit, perceptions, prejudice, stereotype, bias. The authors then summarized this research into subsections that describe the studies that have measured explicit and implicit attitudes toward autistic individuals.

In summary, what did those studies show?

Our review suggests that, while people may report that their explicit attitudes toward autistic individuals as a group are positive, their actual willingness to engage with autistic individuals may be negative. Regarding implicit attitudes, regardless of the specific test used to measure implicit attitudes toward autistic people, these attitudes were typically negative. This was the case for participants who were children, college students, and adults, including those who work with autistic populations. One other important topic we covered in this article was the identification of individual differences that might affect people’s attitudes toward autistic individuals. We found that previous studies showed that people who had more previous interactions with autistic individuals and had a greater knowledge of autism had more positive attitudes toward autistic individuals. We also reviewed interventions that researchers have used to try to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals. Our review suggests that educational materials can improve explicit attitudes but the effects of trainings on implicit attitudes are more variable. The trainings that were most effective provided facts about autism that included the challenges and strengths associated with autism and also provided personal accounts from autistic people themselves.

What are the remaining gaps in the literature?

Future research can focus on trying to identify whether interventions may be more successful for some people but less successful for others, based on individual characteristics. Studies can also test to see if the interventions have long-term effects. Furthermore, additional studies can examine whether implicit and explicit attitudes affect the way that neurotypical people interact with autistic individuals. Finally, most participants in the reviewed research studies were from Western societies so more work can be conducted in other cultures.

Based on this review, what do the authors recommend?

This paper reviews interventions that could potentially be used in business or educational settings to reduce negative attitudes toward autistic individuals. More research needs to examine whether specific components of the interventions themselves and the people participating in the interventions affect the success of the intervention.