LOWER CONCERN FOR PERSONAL GAIN EXPOSES AUTISTIC CHILDREN TO HIGHER RISK OF BULLYING

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

Children with autism may be at risk from bullying because they are more willing to accept unfair behaviour say psychologists.

The research by Dr Calum Hartley and Sophie Fisher of Lancaster University involved young children playing trading games with a puppet.

In the Ultimatum Game and Dictator Game, the children offered stickers to the puppet and received offers in return.

Children could accept or reject the puppet’s offers in the Ultimatum Game, but not the Dictator Game. Both groups of children – one with ASD and one without – showed a willingness to share equally and neither prioritised self-interest.

But in the Ultimatum Game, children with ASD were 37% less likely to reciprocate fair offers and three times more likely to accept unfair offers of just one sticker.

“To a child with ASD, accepting an unfair offer may be favourable because it yields a greater physical reward than rejection.”

The researchers suggested these differences in sharing between the two groups may be linked to deficits in social and cognitive development.

“Our results suggest that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder might be particularly susceptible to bullies exploiting their lower concern for personal gain and their increased tolerance of unfair behaviour.”

“Importantly, reduced reciprocity and decreased inequality aversion when sharing could severely impact children’s ability to navigate the social world.

“We advocate that anti-bullying interventions address these risks by explicitly teaching children the importance of reciprocating prosocial actions, highlighting cues that indicate they are being treated unfairly, teaching prevention strategies, and role-playing good sharing behaviours.”

Similar: Autistic People 'More Likely To Be Lonely'

Source: Lower concern for personal gain exposes autistic children to higher risk of bullying

 

[John Parris]

(Not written by me)

Children with autism may be at risk from bullying because they are more willing to accept unfair behaviour say psychologists.

The research by Dr Calum Hartley and Sophie Fisher of Lancaster University involved young children playing trading games with a puppet.

In the Ultimatum Game and Dictator Game, the children offered stickers to the puppet and received offers in return.

Children could accept or reject the puppet’s offers in the Ultimatum Game, but not the Dictator Game. Both groups of children – one with ASD and one without – showed a willingness to share equally and neither prioritised self-interest.

But in the Ultimatum Game, children with ASD were 37% less likely to reciprocate fair offers and three times more likely to accept unfair offers of just one sticker.

“To a child with ASD, accepting an unfair offer may be favourable because it yields a greater physical reward than rejection.”

The researchers suggested these differences in sharing between the two groups may be linked to deficits in social and cognitive development.

“Our results suggest that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder might be particularly susceptible to bullies exploiting their lower concern for personal gain and their increased tolerance of unfair behaviour.”

“Importantly, reduced reciprocity and decreased inequality aversion when sharing could severely impact children’s ability to navigate the social world.

“We advocate that anti-bullying interventions address these risks by explicitly teaching children the importance of reciprocating prosocial actions, highlighting cues that indicate they are being treated unfairly, teaching prevention strategies, and role-playing good sharing behaviours.”

Similar: Autistic People 'More Likely To Be Lonely'

Source: Lower concern for personal gain exposes autistic children to higher risk of bullying

They might be right in the context of their experiments. I feel that others are more important because they are more able dealing with the world. I feel the need to give rather than receive and to appease them. This explains what happens in games and later in life in negotiations but not necessarily bullying as such. When I meet people I am anxious as I don't know how the encounter will go, I'm giving out all sort of submissive signals and ready to appease the other person or to hunker down to do what the other person might want.

 

[Judge]

Children with autism may be at risk from bullying because they are more willing to accept unfair behaviour say psychologists.

Interesting.

Though I can't help speculate that is may be somewhat misunderstood through a Neurotypical perspective. That it isn't necessarily that autistic people are willing to accept abuse, but rather that we're just more accustomed to it happening to varying degrees, on a routine basis.

I masked my traits and behaviors out of a perceived necessity to avoid consequences. It was never something I looked forward to or enjoyed doing.

 

[the_tortoise]

Maybe autistic children were just more likely to have their own ideas about what a "fair offer" was rather than sticking to the assumption that the only thing that matters is quantity of stickers....for example, perhaps autistic children were more likely to accept a single sticker if it was one that they had a particular fondness for compared to the others.

I would like to know if the researchers controlled for things like how many different stickers were used and which particular stickers were offered singularly.