Autism, thy name is man: Exploring implicit and explicit gender bias in autism perceptions

Area of Science:

• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Gender studies
• Psychology

Background:

• Males receive autism diagnoses at three times the rate of females.
• Historically, this disparity was attributed to gender compatibility with the autistic phenotype.
• Emerging research suggests potential biases in recognizing the female autistic phenotype.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate implicit and explicit associations between autism and gender.
• To explore how societal perceptions may impact the identification of autistic females.
• To examine potential gender biases in autism assessment tools.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure implicit biases.
• Employed the Autism Quotient (AQ) questionnaire with gendered vignettes (male/female).
• Assessed both implicit and explicit associations between autism and binary gender.

Main Results:

• The IAT revealed a significant implicit bias associating males with autistic traits.
• Explicit assessment showed certain AQ items perceived as exclusively male traits.
• Reverse-scored AQ items were perceived as female, indicating skewed explicit perceptions.

Conclusions:

• Current understanding and metrics of autism exhibit a male-centric bias.
• This bias may impede the accurate identification and comprehension of the female autistic phenotype.
• Further research is needed to address gender disparities in autism recognition and diagnosis.