Empathising and Systemising in Adults with and without Asperger Syndrome

Abstract

An experiment was devised to test the empathising-systemising (E-S) theory of autism. Three groups of participants took part in the study: males with Asperger Syndrome (AS) (n ¼ 18), males without AS, (n ¼ 44) and females from the general population (n ¼ 45). Each participant completed two tasks: one that involved empathising and another that involved systemising. On the empathising task, females scored significantly higher than control males who in turn scored higher than males with AS. Conversely, females scored significantly lower than both male groups on the systemising task, who did not differ significantly from each other. These results are in line with both the E-S theory of autism and the 'extreme male brain' theory of autism. Alternative explanations of the results are also explored, including an interpretation through the idea of open and closed systems.

Autistic characteristics in adults with epilepsy

“…This would be important as the researchers indicate that there may be important neurobiological links between strong systemizing and empathising, which implicates the number of autistic traits an individual possesses (ibid., p.52). Further, they may share a common biological mechanism such as foetal testosterone, which indicates that empathising and systemizing abilities may be heritable (Lawson, Baron-Cohen, & Wheelwright, 2004). Further research is needed to determine whether these abilities support or refute heritability of autistic traits in adults with epilepsy.…”

“…In support of this, ASDs are characterised by a deficit in empathising abilities, and intact or enhanced systemizing abilities, which may be heritable (eg. Lawson et al, 2004). The findings of intact empathising are surprising, given that adults with FLE who are specifically impaired in empathising were represented within the sample (Benuzzi et al, 2004;Farrant et al, 2005).…”

“…[ES] theory of autism is a robust theory which suggests that ASD are characterised by a deficit in empathising abilities and intact or enhanced systemizing abilities, which may be heritable (Lawson, Baron-Cohen, & Wheelwright, 2004). Males obtain higher systemizing than empathising scores, and higher systemizing scores than females, while females present the opposite profile.…”

A Systematic Literature Review of Emotion Regulation Measurement in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…persistently avoiding reasonably safe situations). Individuals with ASD may engage more frequently in the latter due to difficulties in understanding social, unstructured, or novel situations [Lawson, Baron-Cohen, & Wheelwright, 2004], avoidance of novel or uncomfortable situations as a result of behavioral rigidities [e.g. insistence of routine; Gotham et al, 2013], withdrawal from social situations because of sociocommunicative impairments [Dawson & Lewy, 1989;Jawaid et al, 2012], or avoidance of particular situations or environments due to sensory sensitivities [Hilton et al, 2010;Laurent & Rubin, 2004].…”

The influence of empathizing and systemizing on humor processing: Theory of Mind and humor

“…Apart from systemizing, empathizing is one of two relatively independent psychological dimensions or cognitive styles Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright 2004), defined as the drive to read emotions and thoughts in others and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion. Systemizing describes the particular interest in systems (encompassing many different systems, such as mechanical, abstract, mathematical, organizational, taxonomical, etc.…”