Focused Interests, Motivation, and Museum/Gallery Attendance – A Mixed-Methods Survey Exploring Autistic Adults’ Experiences and Wellbeing Outcomes

Focused interests are characterised by high attention and focus, and are commonly experienced by autistic people. While some research frames these interests as inflexible and non-social, other research has highlighted many positive impacts for autistic people. Research also shows that cultural activities, such as museum and art gallery visits, can facilitate and promote health, including mental health, in the general population. This study used an online mixed-methods survey to explore relationships between focused interests, motivation, museum/gallery attendance, and wellbeing for 45 autistic and 44 non-autistic participants. Findings include (a) both autistic and non-autistic participants reported having focused interests, which had a similar nature and served similar purposes for both groups; (b) exploring focused interests in museums/galleries related to more positive emotions during visits for both groups, but autistic individuals more frequently raised sensory and accessibility concerns; and (c) autistic participants reported significantly lower wellbeing, but focused interests, motivation, and museum/gallery attendance did not significantly impact wellbeing. Our findings highlight the deep meaning and positive impact of focused interests on autistic lives, the potential of galleries and museums to provide opportunities for the meaningful exploration of focused interests, and the importance of minimising accessibility barriers for autistic people in these spaces. Lay Abstract Some research says that focused interests – meaning interests to which people dedicate a lot of attention, time, and focus – are bad for autistic people, but other research indicates that focused they can be good in many ways, like helping in careers or education. Visiting galleries and museums can be good for human wellbeing, but we do not know if that works in the same way for autistic people specifically. This study looked at whether focused interests, motivation, and museum/gallery attendance contributed to better wellbeing for autistic adults. We also checked if non-autistic people had focused interests, and if there were any differences in autistic and non-autistic people's interests. We looked at the different experiences and needs of autistic and non-autistic people when visiting museums/galleries. To do this, we asked 45 autistic and 44 non-autistic adults to complete an online survey including ratings on scales and open text boxes. We analysed participants’ scale ratings using statistics, and their open answers using content analysis, which helps researchers find the most frequent categories in text. Autistic people's focused interests, motivation, and museum/gallery attendance did not impact their wellbeing in the statistical analysis, but some participants wrote that they used their focused interests to help their wellbeing and mental health. Autistic people reported focused interests more frequently than non-autistic people, but the content and purpose of their interests were similar. Both groups talked about good experiences in visiting museums/galleries and exploring their focused interests there, but autistic people specifically complained about environments that were not accessible. Our findings show that being able to explore focused interests in galleries and museums can lead to positive feelings, while barriers in the environment and accessibility issues can stop autistic people from enjoying their visits and exploring their interests.