Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism.

ABSTRACT: This study investigated hypothetical moral choices in adults with high-functioning autism and the role of empathy and alexithymia in such choices. We used a highly emotionally salient moral dilemma task to investigate autistics' hypothetical moral evaluations about personally carrying out harmful utilitarian behaviours aimed at maximizing welfare. Results showed that they exhibited a normal pattern of moral judgments despite the deficits in social cognition and emotional processing. Further analyses revealed that this was due to mutually conflicting biases associated with autistic and alexithymic traits after accounting for shared variance: (a) autistic traits were associated with reduced utilitarian bias due to elevated personal distress of demanding social situations, while (b) alexithym

SUBMITTER: Patil I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4810325 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature