Aperçu: G.M.
Les jeunes autistes ont diverses difficultés sociales, mais on ne sait pas encore comment expliquer ces difficultés. En outre, des recherches récentes suggèrent que les filles autistes peuvent différer des garçons en termes de comportement social, mais on ignore encore si leur comportement prosocial diffère, comme aider. La présente étude a examiné le comportement d'assistance spontané en utilisant un paradigme in vivo et l'a associé aux niveaux de motivation sociale des participants (sur la base des rapports des parents). Les participants étaient 233 (pré) adolescents autistes et non autistes (M = 12,46 ans, écart-type = 15,54 mois).
Nos résultats ont montré que les filles et les garçons autistes avaient une motivation sociale inférieure à celle de leurs pairs non autistes, mais que la motivation sociale n’était pas liée au comportement d’aide dans les deux groupes. En outre, lorsque l'expérimentateur avait besoin d'aide, les garçons et les filles autistes ressemblaient et souriaient dans la même mesure que leurs pairs du même sexe, mais ils aidaient en réalité beaucoup moins que leurs pairs non autistes. Cependant, la plupart des jeunes autistes ont apporté leur aide, en soulignant les différences considérables entre les individus autistes. Nous discutons de la possibilité que les faibles niveaux de comportement d'aide soient dus à la difficulté d'initier l'action dans un contexte social, plutôt qu'à une motivation sociale plus faible. Autism Res 2019, 00: 1-9. © 2019 Les auteurs. Autism Research publié par la Société internationale pour la recherche sur l'autisme publié par Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autism Res. 2019 Jul 30. doi: 10.1002/aur.2182
Spontaneous helping behavior of autistic and non-autistic (Pre-)adolescents: A matter of motivation?
O'Connor RAG1, Stockmann L1, Rieffe C1.
Author information
- 1
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract
Young autistic
people have a range of social difficulties, but it is not yet clear how
these difficulties can be explained. In addition, emerging research is
suggesting that autistic
girls may differ from boys in terms of their social behaviors, but yet
unknown is if they differ in terms of their pro-social behavior, such as
helping. The present study investigated spontaneous helping behavior
using an in vivo paradigm and related this to participants' levels of
social motivation (based on parent reports). Participants were 233 autistic and non-autistic (pre-)adolescents (M = 12.46 years, SD = 15.54 months). Our results demonstrated that autistic girls and boys have lower levels of social motivation compared to their non-autistic
peers, but social motivation was unrelated to helping behavior in both
groups. Furthermore, when the experimenter needed help, the autistic
boys and girls looked and smiled to the same extent as their peers of
the same gender, but they actually helped significantly less than their
non-autistic peers. However, most autistic youngsters did help, highlighting the great individual differences in autistic
individuals. We discuss the possibility that lower levels of helping
behavior are due to difficulty initiating action in a social context,
rather than lower social motivation. Autism Res 2019, 00: 1-9. © 2019 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: This study examined the helping behavior of autistic boys and girls (aged 9-16). Many autistic young people did help, but compared to non-autistic individuals, autistic
people did not help as much. This study also showed that when people
did/did not help, it was not related to their interest in social
relationships. It is important to teach young autistic people when and how to help others, to support them making friends.
© 2019 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
KEYWORDS:
autism; gender; helping; pro-social; social motivation- PMID:
- 31364313
- DOI:10.1002/aur.2182