Autism empathy measures may be flawed, researcher argues
There is a widespread belief that people with autism are less empathetic. In other words, that they are less able to put themselves in someone else's shoes. But is that actually true? Autism researcher Dr. Lisa Krijnen is investigating this question. The research is published in the journal Autism.
A researcher named Dr. Lisa Krijnen is challenging the widely held belief that individuals with autism are less empathetic. This misconception may stem from the way empathy has been measured in past studies. Often, empathy is assessed through questionnaires, where people are asked to evaluate their own understanding or connection to another person's thoughts or feelings.
Autistic individuals frequently find these questions difficult to answer, as they typically involve a range of empathy-related queries, such as predicting how someone else feels or determining the context of a given scenario.
One issue with these questionnaires is that they ask individuals to make assumptions about what another person might be feeling, which can be challenging for anyone, let alone someone with autism. Dr. Krijnen points out that these thought processes are often described by autistic people during questionnaire completion. This raises concerns about how these responses might be categorized, potentially leading to a misclassification of an individual's empathy levels.
In her research, Dr. Krijnen conducts direct interviews with autistic individuals and asks them to interpret the statements used in these questionnaires. The findings suggest that autistic people can experience deep compassion for others, even if it can be overwhelming at times. They also explain that they may need time to process another person's experiences and consider the best response.
To an outsider, this delayed reaction might appear as a lack of empathy, leading to a response of "yes" when asked if others consider them insensitive.
Dr. Krijnen emphasizes that empathy should not be defined solely by behavior. While behavior is often visible to others, it should not be the primary measure of empathy. Instead, empathy involves understanding another person's thoughts and feelings, sharing their emotions, and responding accordingly. Dr. Krijnen highlights that there are two main aspects of empathy: cognitive empathy, which involves understanding another person's thoughts and feelings, and affective empathy, which is sharing in their emotions.
Social skills and behavior are sometimes included in empathy but can also be seen as a separate concept.
To develop a more reliable and inclusive measurement of empathy, Dr. Krijnen suggests focusing on the internal experiences of individuals rather than their behavior. She argues that reliance on neurotypical behavioral expectations can lead to misunderstandings about empathy and autism. Her goal is to collaborate with autistic individuals in creating a questionnaire that measures empathy without relying on a neurotypical perspective, aiming to provide a better understanding of empathy in the context of autism.
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