Autistic adults' inclination to lie in everyday situations.

The study is cross-sectional and online, so it cannot show that any factor causes a change in lying behaviour or that a therapy would change it. Participants completed tasks remotely, and the researchers had little control over testing conditions. The autistic group was older than the non-autistic group, and age was controlled statistically rather than by matching. The sample included more female than male participants in both groups, and the paper says this is not representative of the general autistic population. Autism status was self-reported, and no formal diagnosis evidence was requested. Autism community members were not involved in the design, implementation or interpretation of the study. Only one measure was used for each main idea, including one questionnaire for inclination to lie, so the results may reflect the measure rather than real-world behaviour. Some differences were significant before correcting for multiple comparisons but not after, so secondary findings should be read cautiously. The paper reports exclusions and removals in a way that leaves the final sample description unclear, while still reporting 41 autistic and 41 non-autistic participants.

The only funding statement supplied is that the Economic and Social Research Council funded the PhD research.

Do not conclude that autistic adults are less inclined to lie. The main comparison was not significant. Also, do not treat the self-rated lying ability difference or the correlations as evidence about real-world lying or as a basis for intervention.