Autistic traits and loneliness in autism are associated with increased tendencies to anthropomorphise

Abstract

Anthropomorphism – the attribution of human qualities to non-human objects – is believed to be a natural tendency which may serve several adaptive functions. One possibility is that anthropomorphism provides an egocentric heuristic by which we can understand the world. It may also be a strategy for reducing our subjective sense of loneliness. However not all humans exhibit the same propensity to anthropomorphise. Recent findings suggest that autistic individuals may be more likely to anthropomorphise than non-autistic individuals. In Study 1 we conducted a large-scale survey of autistic traits and dispositional anthropomorphism in the general population (n = 870). We found that individuals who reported having more autistic traits, had an increased dispositional tendency to anthropomorphise non-human entities. In Study 2 we more closely examined variation in anthropomorphism tendencies in a sample of autistic adults (n = 90) to better understand what might drive increased anthropomorphism in this population. We found that those with greater anthropomorphism tendencies experienced greater levels of self-reported loneliness. We propose that increased anthropomorphism might reflect reduced opportunities for social connection for autistic people and those with more autistic traits.

Loneliness in autistic adults: A systematic review

“…In total, 34 of the 1460 identified studies met all inclusion criteria (see Figure 1 ). The studies were conducted in the United States ( n = 15), the United Kingdom ( n = 7), Australia ( n = 7), Taiwan ( n = 3), Hungary ( n = 1), the Netherlands ( n = 1), Belgium ( n = 1) and Denmark ( n = 1) (note that two studies ( Caruana et al, 2021 ; Chen et al, 2016 ) included participants from two different countries). Study design included quantitative ( n = 20), qualitative ( n = 8) and mixed methods ( n = 6).…”

“…Eight different loneliness questionnaires were used across the studies. Four questionnaires were different versions of the UCLA Loneliness Scale: the UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form (ULS-8) ( Hays & DiMatteo, 1987 ) (used in Ee et al, 2019 ; Hedley, Uljarević, Foley, et al, 2018 ; Lin & Huang, 2019 ; Mazurek, 2013 , 2014 ; Sundberg, 2018 ; Syu & Lin, 2018 ), the UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 ( Russell, 1996 ) (used in Brooks, 2014 ; Hedley, Uljarević, Wilmot, et al., 2018 ; Hillier et al, 2018 ; Jantz, 2011 ; Russell, 2020 ), the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale ( Russell et al, 1980 ) (used in Caruana et al, 2021 ; Levinson, 2020 ) and the 3-item UCLA Loneliness Scale ( Hughes et al, 2004 ) (used in Jackson et al, 2018 ). One further study, by van der Aa et al (2016) , used six items based on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale ( Russell et al, 1980 ) to measure loneliness in autistic adults, yet further information about the rationale for selecting these particular items could not be gathered from the authors.…”

“…Specifically, there was a dearth of literature on collective loneliness in comparison with relational and intimate loneliness. It is also noteworthy that little research has been on autistic adults’ relationships with non-human agents with just one included study investigating such relationships in association to loneliness ( Caruana et al, 2021 ). A final limitation to note is that many of the studies featured in this review appeared to assume that loneliness and social isolation were synonymous experiences.…”

“…In total, 13 studies (9 quantitative, 1 qualitative and 3 mixed methods) identified autistic characteristics as a factor positively associated with loneliness among autistic adults. Of those, 10 of the 13 studies (Brooks, 2014;Caruana et al, 2021;Ee et al, 2019;Hedley, Uljarević, Foley, et al, 2018;Hedley, Uljarević, Wilmot, et al, 2018;Jantz, 2011;Mazurek, 2014;Schiltz et al, 2020;Syu & Lin, 2018;van der Aa et al, 2016) found an association between loneliness and scores on variations of the Autism Quotient (AQ) (Baron-Cohen et al, 2001). Meanwhile, 2 of the 13 studies (Chen et al, 2016;Han et al, 2019) identified an association between loneliness and scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale Second Edition (SRS-2) (Constantino & Gruber, 2012; see Table 4 for statistics reported in the quantitative studies.).…”

Anthropomorphism as a contributor to the success of human (Homo sapiens) tool-use

“…They posit that social disconnection is compensated or ameliorated through interaction with objects, tools and devices, as well as through anthropomorphising non-human animals such as pets. Of note, people on the autism spectrum, who often show deficits in social abilities along with enhanced technical abilities, show an increased tendency to anthropomorphise [28][29][30] They also preferentially enter professions that involve complex and composite manipulation, such as engineering and the physical sciences [31,32]. This link raises the possibility that technical competence can tie directly to machination through social disconnection.…”