Social Conformity in Autism.
Stephanie C Lazzaro, Laura Weidinger, Rose A Cooper and 3 others
PMID 30430321WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults conformed to incorrect group answers just as often as neurotypical adults.
They also maintained these false beliefs after learning the group was wrong, showing no difference in susceptibility to social influence.
Key findings
01Autistic participants conformed to the majority opinion in 66.3% of social manipulation trials, which was not significantly different from the 58.9% rate seen in neurotypical controls.
02When social influence was removed, autistic participants maintained erroneous memory responses in 28.1% of trials, a rate not significantly different from the 27.0% seen in controls.
03Both groups were more likely to conform to incorrect human answers than to incorrect computer-generated answers, indicating that the source of the misinformation matters more than the diagnosis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a laboratory task involving word memory rather than real-world social interactions or complex communication scenarios. Participants were not physically interacting with confederates in real-time; they saw responses on a screen, which may differ from face-to-face pressure. The sample consisted of young adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, so results may not generalize to children, those with intellectual disabilities, or older adults.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autistic individuals lack social awareness or the ability to read group norms. The finding of equal conformity suggests that autistic adults are equally sensitive to social pressure in this context, contradicting the assumption that they are less influenced by others.