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Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Proneness to Self-Conscious Emotions in Adults With and Without Autism Traits
Denise Davidson1, Sandra B Vanegas2, Elizabeth Hilvert3
1Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL, 60660, USA. ddavids@luc.edu.
Abstract:
Self-conscious emotions, such as shame, guilt and pride, facilitate our social interactions by motivating us to adhere to social norms and external standards. In this study, we examined proneness to shame, guilt, hubristic pride and authentic pride in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder traits (ASD-T) and in neurotypical (NT) adults. Relations between proneness to self-conscious emotions and theory of mind (ToM), fear of negative evaluation, and social functioning were also assessed. Adults with ASD-T showed greater proneness to shame, and less proneness to guilt and pride than NT adults. Both ToM and fear of negative evaluation predicted proneness to self-conscious emotions in ASD-T. These findings are discussed in terms of understanding complex emotion processing in adults with ASD-T.
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