Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Autistic Individuals: A Review

More autistic individuals are entering universities and the workforce than ever before. Yet, autistic university students experience social difficulties when transitioning to college such as social anxiety and social exclusion from their peers, and autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed. One reason for these negative experiences is the attitudes others hold toward autistic individuals. In this narrative review, we summarize the literature on explicit and implicit attitudes toward autistic individuals. Our review suggests that, while explicit attitudes toward autistic individuals as a group generally are positive, willingness to engage with autistic individuals, particularly in close proximity, may be more negative. Regarding implicit attitudes, most of which are assessed via reaction-time based methods, the findings are less nuanced. That is, regardless of the measure used, implicit attitudes toward autistic people tend to be negative in children, college students, and adults, including those who work with autistic populations. This article also considers factors that moderate these attitudes including previous contact with autistic individuals, knowledge of autism, and providing a label for autistic individuals. We review interventions designed to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals, which generally suggest that educational materials can have positive effects on explicit attitudes, but the effects of trainings on implicit attitudes are more variable. Regarding training, best practices include providing facts about autism that include the challenges and strengths associated with autism as well as providing perspectives from autistic people themselves. Finally, we provide suggestions for future directions.