Autistic Traits, Empathizing-Systemizing, and Gender Diversity.
Publication Date
2022-05Journal Title
Arch Sex Behav
ISSN
0004-0002
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
51
Issue
4
Pages
2077-2089
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Hendriks, O., Wei, Y., Warrier, V., & Richards, G. (2022). Autistic Traits, Empathizing-Systemizing, and Gender Diversity.. Arch Sex Behav, 51 (4), 2077-2089. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02251-x
Abstract
Previous research indicates a link between autism and transgender and gender-diverse identities, though the association is not yet fully understood. The current study examined autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient [AQ]), empathizing (Empathizing Quotient-Short [EQ-S]), and systemizing (Systemizing Quotient-Short [SQ-S]) in a sample of 89 adults and aimed to test whether gender-diverse individuals exhibit cognitive profiles consistent with predictions derived from the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory. As most research has considered only cisgender people, we recruited a more diverse sample by contacting > 200 UK LGBTQ+ organizations and posting on social media. A range of non-cisgender identities (e.g., transgender male, transgender female, non-binary, genderqueer, transmasculine) and non-heterosexual orientations (e.g., bisexual) were represented, and participants were categorized into one of four groups: (1) assigned female at birth but does not identify as female (transgender AFAB) (n = 32), (2) cisgender female (n = 21), (3) assigned male at birth but does not identify as male (transgender AMAB) (n = 18), and (4) cisgender male (n = 18). After controlling for age and autism diagnostic status, transgender AFAB participants had marginally higher AQ scores, and significantly higher SQ-S and systemizing-relative-to-empathizing (D) scores, compared with the cisgender female group. No such differences were detected between the transgender AMAB and cisgender male groups. Our findings are broadly in line with predictions derived from the EMB theory, though as no transgender AFAB participants reported being heterosexual, it was not possible to determine whether these effects relate specifically to gender identity, to sexual orientation, or to both.
Keywords
Autism, Empathizing–systemizing, Extreme male brain theory, Gender diversity, Transgender, Adult, Autistic Disorder, Brain, Empathy, Female, Gender Identity, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Male, Transgender Persons
Identifiers
s10508-021-02251-x, 2251
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02251-x
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/338094
Rights
Licence:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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