Cognitive and emotional empathy in neurotypical individuals with high autistic traits: The role of emotional valence

Abstract

BackgroundEmpathy is an important ability in social interactions, and previous findings regarding empathy of high autistic traits (AT) have been mixed. MethodThe current study sought to investigate cognitive empathy (CE) and emotional empathy (EE) in neurotypical individuals with high AT, examining their responses to both positive and negative emotions in comparison to a matched control group within a sizable sample. Participants were 908 young Chinese adults in the neurotypical range who self-reported their AT using the Autism Quotient and Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire and then completed the Multifaceted Empathy Test. ResultsThe results showed that the high AT group exhibited less CE, lower EE for positive emotions (EE-P), and intact EE for negative emotions (EE-N) compared to the low AT group. Except for EE-N, other empathic components were positively correlated with AT. The CE-P (i.e., cognitive empathy for positive emotions), CE-N (i.e., cognitive empathy for negative emotions), and EE-P showed a significantly moderate discriminatory effect in predicting AT in neurotypical adults. ConclusionsTogether, these results underscore that the performance on empathy of neurotypical individuals with high AT was moderated by emotional valence of stimuli. Specifically, neurotypical adults with high AT showed a general reduction in CE and a selective decrease in EE. Their EE-P was lower but EE-N was intact.