When one points out that women with autism do not face anywhere near the same level of social ostracization as men with autism, bluepillers will respond that this is because female autists tend to have better social skills and are therefore better able to fake neurotypical behavior.
In order for humans to be socially successful, it is necessary to 'read' and correctly interpret the signals of other persons. The ‘‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’’ test can objectively measure a person's ability to understand others' emotional states from their facial expressions. Because women have evolved to care for babies, they tend to be much better at reading and expressing non-verbal communication than men. Men who are socially skilled know that women are very good at reading subtle facial expressions and take advantage of this fact to communicate more effectively with them.
Both men and women with autism struggle with this particularly important aspect of social interaction.
In this study, a sample of 750 individuals took the ‘‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’’ test. Surprisingly, female autists performed slightly worse, on average, than male autists.
The author of this blog converted the means and standard deviations to the familiar IQ scale (mean 100, SD 15) and obtained this hierarchy of social intelligence:
Neurotypical women: social IQ 104 (SD 13.13)
Neurotypical men: social IQ 96 (SD 17.5)
Autistic men: social IQ 89 (SD 25.4)
Autistic women: social IQ 88 (SD 27)
If autistic women are not better at reading social cues than autistic men, then why are they better able to function in modern society? Why are they much more likely to pass on their genes than autistic men? The answer is simple: attractiveness. Most autistic women are at least somewhat attractive to the opposite sex, and the attractiveness halo effect causes men to view their autistic traits more positively. Their physical attractiveness and femininity make them seem more neurotypical than they really are. Because of the strong female ingroup preference, most neurotypical women sympathize with autistic women and overlook their awkward and asocial behaviors in spite of not being attracted to them and being psychologically different from them.
In contrast to autistic women, most autistic men are physically unattractive to the opposite sex. People are less likely to overlook their socially awkward behavior and more likely to be prejudiced against them. When a man is not in the top tier of looks, women expect him to compensate for not being "Chad" by signaling social status. Women are evolutionarily adapted to be disgusted by behavioral traits that signal low social status, such as autism.
Of course, autistic men who are physically attractive benefit from the same advantages as female autists: women are more likely to view them positively and to overlook their autistic traits.
In order for humans to be socially successful, it is necessary to 'read' and correctly interpret the signals of other persons. The ‘‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’’ test can objectively measure a person's ability to understand others' emotional states from their facial expressions. Because women have evolved to care for babies, they tend to be much better at reading and expressing non-verbal communication than men. Men who are socially skilled know that women are very good at reading subtle facial expressions and take advantage of this fact to communicate more effectively with them.
Both men and women with autism struggle with this particularly important aspect of social interaction.
In this study, a sample of 750 individuals took the ‘‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’’ test. Surprisingly, female autists performed slightly worse, on average, than male autists.
The author of this blog converted the means and standard deviations to the familiar IQ scale (mean 100, SD 15) and obtained this hierarchy of social intelligence:
Neurotypical women: social IQ 104 (SD 13.13)
Neurotypical men: social IQ 96 (SD 17.5)
Autistic men: social IQ 89 (SD 25.4)
Autistic women: social IQ 88 (SD 27)
If autistic women are not better at reading social cues than autistic men, then why are they better able to function in modern society? Why are they much more likely to pass on their genes than autistic men? The answer is simple: attractiveness. Most autistic women are at least somewhat attractive to the opposite sex, and the attractiveness halo effect causes men to view their autistic traits more positively. Their physical attractiveness and femininity make them seem more neurotypical than they really are. Because of the strong female ingroup preference, most neurotypical women sympathize with autistic women and overlook their awkward and asocial behaviors in spite of not being attracted to them and being psychologically different from them.
In contrast to autistic women, most autistic men are physically unattractive to the opposite sex. People are less likely to overlook their socially awkward behavior and more likely to be prejudiced against them. When a man is not in the top tier of looks, women expect him to compensate for not being "Chad" by signaling social status. Women are evolutionarily adapted to be disgusted by behavioral traits that signal low social status, such as autism.
Of course, autistic men who are physically attractive benefit from the same advantages as female autists: women are more likely to view them positively and to overlook their autistic traits.
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