Reexamining empathy in autism: Empathic disequilibrium as a novel predictor of autism diagnosis and autistic traits.

ABSTRACT: A large body of research showed that autistic people have intact emotional (affective) empathy alongside reduced cognitive empathy. However, there are mixed findings and these call for a more subtle understanding of empathy in autism. Empathic disequilibrium refers to the imbalance between emotional and cognitive empathy and is associated with a higher number of autistic traits in the typical population. Here we examined whether empathic disequilibrium predicts both the number of autistic traits and autism diagnosis. In a large sample of autistic (N = 1905) and typical individuals (N = 3009), we examined empathic disequilibrium and empathy as predictors of autistic traits and autism diagnosis, using a polynomial regression with response surface analysis. Empathy and autistic traits were me

SUBMITTER: Shalev I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9804307 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature