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Updated: May 11, 2025

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Asymmetries run deep: the interplay between cradling bias, face recognition, autistic traits, and personality
Valerio Manippa1, Anna Concetta Spina1,2, Ester Cornacchia1,2
1Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
Abstract:
Personality traits are linked to a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional factors, including lateralization patterns. Autism, prosopagnosia, and atypical cradling have been associated with altered lateralization and socio-emotional processing. This study explores how autism traits, cradling-side preferences, and face recognition abilities relate to individual personality differences. Three-hundred neurotypical adults (150 males) completed an online survey including the imaged cradling preference and three validated questionnaires: the Autism spectrum Quotient (AQ), Prosopagnosia Index-20 (PI-20), and the Big Five Personality Questionnaire (BFQ). Results showed a strong left-cradling bias (LCB) unaffected by sex, handedness, parental status, autism traits, or face recognition abilities. AQ negatively predicted Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Openness. LCB correlated with higher Agreeableness and moderated the negative association between AQ and Extraversion. These findings suggest a potential link between cradling preferences, autism traits, and personality, possibly reflecting reduced right-hemisphere specialization in emotional processing and social behaviour.
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