Prior research has shown that less favourable first impressions are formed of autistic adults by non-autistic observers. Autistic females may present differently to autistic males and could engage in more camouflaging behaviours, which could affect these first impressions.However, research has not yet tested for gender differences in the first impressions of autistic adults. In the current study, non-autistic observers (n = 205) viewed either 10-second video clips or text transcripts in the context of a mock job interview by ten autistic females and ten autistic males, matched to ten non-autistic females and ten non-autistic males. They then rated each stimuli on personality traits (e.g. awkwardness) and behavioural intentions (e.g. "I would start a conversation with this person"). Non-autistic observers were blind to diagnostic status of the individuals in either modality. Results showed that first impressions were less favourable overall of autistic adults in the video modality. Further, autistic females were rated more favourably than autistic males in the video modality across most traitsbut autistic females were also rated less favourably than both non-autistic females and males. Some judgements were also made in the text modality, whereby more favourable first impressions were made of autistic males on the basis of speech content. Understanding the first impressions that both autistic females and males make has important implications for diagnostic services and employment prospects.
Lay SummaryPast research has found that non-autistic people tend to form more negative first impressions of autistic people. However, we do not know how an individual's gender might influence these first impressions. It is important to understand this because autistic males and females may experience different judgements based on their gender, and this could affect diagnosis and employment prospects for autistic men and women. In the current research, an experiment tested first impressions whereby non-autistic people rated people they saw in videos or they read transcripts of what the person said. They did not know that some of the people they were rating were autistic. The findings showed that autistic women were judged more favourably than autistic men, however, both autistic women and men were rated less positively than non-autistic men and women. In fact, some of the biggest differences were between judgements of autistic females in comparison to non-autistic females. These findings suggest that non-autistic people do make gender-based judgements of autistic people, and still form better first impressions of non-autistic people.