Social Evaluation of Neurotype-Dependent Media Contents in Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults

Abstract

Background:

Media is central in shaping social evaluations of different human groups. Despite prevailing media portrayals harboring detrimental stereotypes of autism, autistic people actively use media as an accessible space for connection, advocacy, and community. Autistic people tend to resonate more with autistic peers, whereas non-autistic people form less favorable impressions of autistic people. No study has directly examined autistic and non-autistic people’s social evaluations of media content produced by autistic people or about autistic lived experiences. Here, we examined neurotype-dependent social evaluation using a novel, ecologically valid task.

Methods:

We compiled autistic-content and non-autistic-content videos from publicly available interviews, vlogs, reality TV, and documentaries. An advisory board of five autistic members vetted the clips. We presented these videos to 73 autistic and 223 non-autistic adults recruited from Prolific. Participants rated and interpreted the videos on three dimensions of social evaluation: connectedness (relatedness, identification), content clarity (understanding of the video), and valanced judgments (enjoyment, discomfort, friendliness, awkwardness). We used mixed factorial analysis of variance to examine differences in ratings by video conditions and participant neurotypes. We examined participants’ video interpretations using reflexive thematic and content analyses, complemented by a generalized linear mixed model to compare group differences quantitatively.

Results:

Autistic and non-autistic adults reported greater relatedness, identification, and understanding of video contents matching their own neurotypes. Autistic adults also reported greater enjoyment and friendliness of autistic-content videos than non-autistic-content videos. Open-text interpretations showed neurotype-dependent patterns: non-autistic adults evaluated autistic-content videos more negatively, while both groups related more to neurotype-matched videos and expressed non-relatedness to mismatched ones.

Conclusions:

These findings highlight the importance of recognizing neurotype-associated differences in evaluating and interpreting media. These differences may arise from divergent social expectations and experiences. They also suggest online spaces may support autistic sociality and well-being.

Community Brief

Why is this an important issue?

Media shapes how people see and understand each other. Many wrongly characterize autistic people as uninterested in social life, yet autistic people use media to connect, advocate, and build community. Research shows autistic and non-autistic people may view the same content differently, with autistic people connecting more to autistic content and non-autistic people forming more negative impressions of autistic people. Researchers need to study how both groups evaluate autistic-content and non-autistic-content media.

What was the purpose of this study?

We examined how autistic and non-autistic adults evaluate videos created by autistic and non-autistic people.

What did the researchers do?

We first collected publicly available videos featuring autistic people and non-autistic people. Five autistic people reviewed and approved the video clips. We then showed the videos to autistic and non-autistic adults. Participants rated how much they connected (relatedness, identification) with the people in the video, how clear the content was (understanding), and their feelings (enjoyment, friendliness, awkwardness, discomfort) toward the videos and people in them. Participants also provided written video interpretations.

What were the results and conclusions of the study?

Both autistic and non-autistic adults understood, related to, and identified with video contents that matched their neurotype (in other words, their type of thinking, understanding, and information processing, such as autistic or non-autistic) more than mismatched ones. Autistic adults also enjoyed autistic-content videos more than non-autistic-content videos and found them more friendly. In the written interpretations, both autistic and non-autistic adults described more specific instances of relatedness to videos that matched their neurotype and perceived videos that did not match their groups more negatively.

What is new or controversial about these findings?

We created a new social evaluation task to examine how autistic and non-autistic adults view media content produced by members of their own and the other neurotype. When watching videos created by autistic and non-autistic individuals, participants connected more with the experiences of people of their own neurotype and viewed them more positively. These findings demonstrate different patterns of engagement with social videos, which may reflect broader differences in social preferences, norms, and expectations between autistic and non-autistic people.

What are potential weaknesses in the study?

The study relies on participants’ self-reports, which may reflect participants’ tendencies to respond in politically correct ways. Differences between videos that we could not fully account for, such as topic, lighting, race, ethnicity, or settings, may influence how participants evaluate them. Participants knew whether the videos included autistic or non-autistic content, which could influence their responses through in-group favoritism.

How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?

These findings show that autistic and non-autistic people evaluate media differently. This helps us understand how autistic and non-autistic people experience, connect, and engage with the social world. This perspective shifts focus from individual deficits to differences, informing more inclusive research. The results also suggest that online spaces may be especially helpful for supporting autistic adults’ connection and well-being.