Understanding, attitudes and dehumanisation towards autistic people.
Eilidh CageJessica Di MonacoVictoria NewellPublished in: Autism : the international journal of research and practice (2018)
Research suggests that while individuals may self-report positive attitudes towards autism, dehumanising attitudes (seeing another as less than human) may still prevail. This study investigated knowledge, openness and dehumanising attitudes of non-autistic people towards autistic people. A total of 361 participants completed a survey measuring autism openness, knowledge and experience, along with a measure of dehumanisation. Results showed that knowledge of autism was comparable to past research and females were more open towards autism. Findings also indicated evidence for dehumanisation, with a particular denial of 'human uniqueness' traits. Furthermore, dehumanisation was related to openness towards autism. These findings have implications for targeting attitudes to reduce stigma associated with autism.
Keyphrases
- autism spectrum disorder
- intellectual disability
- mental health
- endothelial cells
- healthcare
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- gene expression
- pluripotent stem cells
- minimally invasive
- cancer therapy
- social support
- depressive symptoms
- genome wide
- high resolution
- hiv infected
- hepatitis c virus
- single molecule
- drug induced