Mentalising Moderates the Link between Autism Traits and Current Gender Dysphoric Features in Primarily Non-autistic, Cisgender Individuals

Abstract

The co-occurrence between autism and gender dysphoria has received much attention recently. We found that, among 101 adults from the general population number of autism traits, as measured using the autism-spectrum quotient was associated significantly with recalled and current gender dysphoric traits. Furthermore, performance on an objective measure of mentalising, such as the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test was associated with current gender dysphoric traits, but most importantly it moderated the relation between number of autism traits and number of current gender dysphoric traits, such that the association was significant only when mentalising ability was relatively low. Results suggest mentalising may represent a contributing factor to the relation between autism and gender dysphoric traits in the general population.Keywords Autism · Gender dysphoria · Gender identity · Mentalising · ToM Autism spectrum disorder (henceforth autism) is a neu-* Aimilia Kallitsounaki

Links Between Autistic Traits, Feelings of Gender Dysphoria, and Mentalising Ability: Replication and Extension of Previous Findings from the General Population

“…The second aim of this study was to extend further the original findings about the moderator role of mentalising in the link between autistic traits and gender dysphoric feelings, by conducting a mediation analysis. As noted previously, Kallitsounaki and Williams (2020) found that the relation between autistic traits and gender dysphoric feelings was particularly pronounced when mentalising ability was low and completely absent when the level of this ability was high. However, the (unexpected and unusual) non-significant association between autistic traits and mentalising ability found in the original study did not allow a mediation model to be tested (e.g., Baron and Kenny 1986).…”

“…One potential candidate mechanism/ability that could contribute to gender nonconformity in ASD is the ability to represent mental states, otherwise known as mentalising or theory of mind (Glidden et al 2016;Jacobs et al 2014;Van Der Miesen et al 2016. While, only initial steps have been made to explore this hypothesis, Kallitsounaki and Williams' (2020; the first and second authors of the current manuscript) recent findings provided the first evidence in favour of a potential link. Kallitsounaki and Williams investigated the relation between autistic traits (using the Autism-spectrum Quotient; Baron-Cohen et al 2001b), current gender dysphoric feelings (using the Gender Identity/ Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire; Deogracias et al 2007), and recalled cross-gender behaviour (using the Recalled Childhood Gender Identity/Gender Role Questionnaire; Zucker et al 2006) among cisgender individuals (i.e., people whose gender identity corresponds with their biological sex/birth-assigned gender).…”

“…On this basis, the first aim of the current study was to attempt a direct replication of Kallitsounaki and Williams' (2020) recently published findings of the relations between autistic traits, gender dysphoric feelings, recalled crossgender behaviour, and mentalising ability in a new sample of adults from the general population to increase confidence in the veracity of the original findings. One thing to note is that in the original research, Kallitsounaki and Williams took an individual differences approach to investigate these links.…”

“…Importantly, Kallitsounaki and Williams also examined the role of mentalising (using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task; Baron-Cohen et al 2001a) in the relations between these traits. Kallitsounaki and Williams (2020) found that the number of self-reported autistic traits was significantly associated with the number of gender dysphoric feelings reported (more autistic traits = more current gender dysphoric feelings). Kallitsounaki and Williams also extended this finding further by reporting a significant association between autistic traits and recalled cross-gender behaviour (more autistic traits = more recalled cross-gender behaviour in childhood) for the first time.…”

“…Further analysis showed that this relation was significant when mentalising ability was low, but it was non-significant when mentalising ability was high. Based on these results and on research evidence that suggests ASD is associated with a mentalising deficit (e.g., Brunsdon and Happé 2014;Jones et al 2018;Kaland et al 2008;Yirmiya et al 1998), Kallitsounaki and Williams (2020) concluded that in autistic people "a weakness in the process of mentalising may contribute to increased fluidity of gender identity" (p. 6).…”