Autistic traits, adolescence, and anti-social peer pressure

Abstract

The potential role of autism as a moderator of conformity has recently been investigated by a small number of studies. However, as yet, no consensus has emerged as to whether autism or autistic traits can moderate the degree to which people attend to and are influenced by social pressure, nor whether there are specific circumstances under which this might occur. The current study adds to this ambiguous literature by looking at whether autism and autistic traits are associated with conformity in the context of adolescent peer pressure. participants and procedure A sample of 12-16 year old students completed questionnaire measures of peer conformity (e.g., in relation to smoking, skipping school, etc.), resistance to peer influence, and autistic traits. Approximately half had an autism-related diagnosis, and none had an intellectual impairment. results Controlling for age, gender, and academic ability, we found that degree of autistic traits was associated with reduced peer conformity, while a diagnosis of autism was not. In contrast, neither autism nor autistic traits were related to resistance to peer influence. conclusions These results are contextualised in terms of past research and positioned within a broader model of individual differences and conformity in which autistic traits moderate the degree to which a person perceives peer influence, while resistance to peer influence moderates the degree to which one conforms to peer influence. Possible future avenues of inquiry are suggested.

Classroom influence—Do students with high autistic traits benefit from their classmates’ social skills?

“…Furthermore, this finding partly contradicts the results from Nenniger et al (2021), who found that girls' autistic traits are influenced by their peers. On the other hand, this finding corresponds with many studies showing that individuals with high levels of autistic traits are less sensitive to social or peer influence (Izuma et al, 2011;Yafai et al, 2014;van Hoorn et al, 2017;Verrier et al, 2020). Second, I hypothesized that higher classroom levels of social skills at the beginning of the school year would be related to an increase in individual social skills at the end of the school year.…”

“…This finding is at odds with studies on typical development, which show that for many behavioral domains, future individual behavior can be predicted by earlier mean classroom behavior when controlling for earlier individual behavior in regular classrooms (e.g., Müller and Zurbriggen, 2016). However, this result is again in line with studies showing that individuals with high levels of autistic traits are less influenced by others (Izuma et al, 2011;Yafai et al, 2014;van Hoorn et al, 2017;Verrier et al, 2020).…”

“…Results showed that within the total sample, higher levels of autistic traits and higher intelligence were associated with less sensitivity to antisocial peer feedback (i.e., peers praised selfish behavior, but not prosocial behavior). In line with these findings, Verrier et al (2020) investigated the conformity of adolescents with and without ASD in peer pressure situations using a vignette approach. They found that higher levels of autistic traits were associated with less peer conformity (Verrier et al, 2020).…”

“…In line with these findings, Verrier et al (2020) investigated the conformity of adolescents with and without ASD in peer pressure situations using a vignette approach. They found that higher levels of autistic traits were associated with less peer conformity (Verrier et al, 2020).…”

Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports

“…Second, we investigated whether boys and girls with ID and high levels of autistic traits differ in their susceptibility to peer influence. Since boys and girls with high levels of autistic traits differ, for example, in terms of social skills, social relationships, or social motivation, gender seems like an especially relevant variable in the context of peer influence (see also, Verrier et al, 2020 ). Given the described differences in social competence between girls and boys with high levels of autistic traits, we expected that target girls are more susceptible to peer influence on autistic traits than target boys (Hypothesis 2).…”