Investigating Markers of Rapport in Autistic and Nonautistic Interactions

Abstract

Background: Autism is considered to entail a social impairment whereby autistic people experience difficulty interpreting others' mental states. However, recent research has shown that nonautistic people also have difficulty understanding the mental states of autistic people. This mismatch of understanding may explain lower rapport in interactions between autistic and nonautistic people. As mental states can be expressed externally through socially normed signals, it is important to investigate the role of such signals in autistic, nonautistic, and mixed interactions. This study explores variability in two social signals between autistic, nonautistic, and mixed interactions, and how their use may affect rapport within interactions. Methods: Videos from a previous study of autistic, nonautistic, and mixed pair interactions in a diffusion chain context in which participants were aware of others' diagnostic status were video coded for mutual gaze and backchanneling as candidate indicators of interactional rapport. Results: Although use of mutual gaze and backchanneling was lower in mixed pairs than in nonautistic pairs, corresponding to lower ratings of interactional rapport, less backchanneling in autistic pairs of both nonverbal and verbal subtypes corresponded to higher ratings of rapport. Conclusions: We observed differences in the use of candidate rapport markers between autistic, mixed, and nonautistic interactions, which did not map onto patterns of rapport scores, suggesting differences in reliance on these cues between autistic and nonautistic people. These results suggest that visible markers of rapport may vary by neurotype or pairing and give clues to inform future investigations of autistic interaction.

A Letter to the Editor Regarding Bambara et al. (2021), “Using Peer Supports to Encourage Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder to Show Interest in Their Conversation Partners”

“…interlocutors (Rifai et al, 2021). Albeit that it is commendable that the autistic participants in Bambara et al (2021) were not forced to adhere to neurotypical backchanneling, the peer focus within the study means the skills are still comparable to the neurotypical peers.…”

Tensions Between Autistic Sociality, Communication, and Social Skills Research: A Response to Bambara (2022) and Camarata (2022)

“…The paucity of research focused on the autistic system of interpretation needs addressing. Therefore, studies need to explore what the autistic system of interpretation includes and how it differs to enable nonautistic individuals to communicate in a manner that lowers the burden on autistic people, notably having to perform to NT standards (e.g., Rifai et al, 2022;Casartelli et al, 2020).…”

“A Group of Fellow Travellers Who Understand”: Interviews With Autistic People About Post-diagnostic Peer Support in Adulthood

“…Engaging with this new social world can encourage self-compassion, build resilience, and develop a greater sense of autonomy and agency ( Crompton et al, 2020a ; Leedham et al, 2020 ). Recent empirical research suggests that interacting with other autistic people might be easier and more comfortable than interacting with non-autistic people, and that autistic people may have particular communication styles that are enhanced in autism-specific social interactions ( Heasman and Gillespie, 2019 ; Crompton et al, 2020b , c ; Rifai et al, 2021 ). Additionally, autistic adults have high levels of scientifically-based knowledge of autism and lower stigma toward autism than non-autistic people ( Gillespie-Lynch et al, 2017 ).…”