As warm as competent, really? On the importance of stereotype facets in the context of autism

Previous work using the Stereotype Content Model reveals that autistic individuals come across as equally warm, if not warmer, than competent. This pattern runs against the widespread representations of autistic individuals as highly intelligent but lacking in social skills. The present research addresses this inconsistency by considering the facets of social judgement. Across two studies (Study 1-students' sample: N = 497, Study 2-general population sample: N = 667), participants completed trait attributions and reported spontaneous stereotypes. Results consistently revealed that respondents perceived autistic individuals as low in friendliness but high in morality and higher in ability than in assertiveness. Moreover, whereas friendliness and ability dominated spontaneous descriptions, morality and assertiveness were evoked only marginally. These findings highlight the added value of analysing stereotypes at the facet level, at least when it comes to autistic individuals, and offer a more nuanced understanding of stereotypic representations of this group.