Exploring lie frequency and emotional experiences of deceptive decision-making in autistic adults

Deception is a multi-faceted social behaviour that is pervasive in human communication. Due to differences in social communication and experiences, autistic and non-autistic adults may contrast in how they respond to situations that elicit deceptive decision-making. This study examined whether autistic and non-autistic adults differed in their general lie frequency, their inclination to produce different lie types, and their emotional experiences of lying. Fifty-eight non-autistic and fifty-six autistic university students matched on age and gender completed self-report measures of their general lying patterns, how often they lied in the past 24 hours, and whether they would lie across hypothetical scenarios with differing beneficiaries (self, other, group) and motivations (protective, beneficial). The groups did not significantly differ in their general lying behaviour or frequency of lies told over 24 hours. Yet, autistic adults indicated that they would be significantly less likely to lie in group scenarios and would experience increased difficulty, more guilt, and greater concerns about their believability when lying. These results advance theoretical understanding by suggesting that autistic adults' deceptive decision-making may be context-dependent. Future research may benefit from examining autistic deception across numerous social situations as more general lie frequency measures may be insensitive to nuanced population differences.Lay AbstractLying, a universal social behaviour, is frequent in everyday communication. Due to differences in social communication and experiences, autistic and non-autistic adults may react differently in situations where they must decide whether to lie or tell the truth. We investigated whether autistic and non-autistic adults differ in their general lying behaviour (e.g. how often they lie) and their likelihood of lying in a range of hypothetical social scenarios with different motivations (why people lie - to benefit or protect) and orientations (who people lie for; themselves, other, a group). We also examined participants' emotional experiences of lying and truth-telling. We found that autistic and non-autistic adults' general lying frequencies and emotional experiences were similar. However, the social scenario responses revealed that autistic adults would be less likely to lie to benefit or protect a social group they are part of. Moreover, autistic adults indicated that they would find lying more difficult across all social scenarios, experience more guilt, and would be less confident that their lie would be believed. This research highlights how autistic adults' lying may be context-dependent and considers how a reduction in the likelihood of lying for their social group could increase strain on autistic adults' social relationships.