Abstract
Autistic atypicality sociality has been historically attributed to mentalizing deficits. Examination of specific domains of social functioning could broaden the explanatory possibilities. We illustrate this for the domain of navigating social hierarchies. We review writings by autistic people, including advice books, memoirs, book reviews, online discussion posts, and the mission-statement of an autistic-led organization. These suggest that autistic people find status-seeking illogical, and prefer egalitarian relationships. Researchers are urged to study status seeking (and its avoidance) in autistic individuals, an approach that could illuminate autistic ethical strengths.
Lay abstract
Human social organizations are complex. Yet little research exists on autistic people’s attitudes about social hierarchies. Clinicians and the medical establishment regard social deficits as a key aspect of autism. If social deficits are paramount, then we expect autistic people to have difficulty navigating social hierarchies. We reject the premise of social deficits (while acknowledging that social misunderstandings interfere in the daily life of autistics) but suggest that researchers learn by listening to what autistic adults say about social hierarchies. We review writings by autistic people, including advice books, memoirs, book reviews, online discussion posts, and the mission-statement of an autistic-led organization. These suggest that autistic people find status-seeking illogical and prefer egalitarian relationships. The consistency of these themes across different types of writings is a reason for researchers to systematically study reduced status-seeking in autistic individuals.
The social challenges of autistic people have long been attributed to deficits in their mentalizing abilities. However, all of the lines of evidence for this have been questioned recently, and, in fact, autistic adults often have considerable interpersonal insight (Gernsbacher & Yergeau, 2019). Autistic adults can communicate as well between themselves as non-autistic adults, although often struggle when communicating with non-autistic adults (Crompton et al., 2020). At the same time, neurotypical (NT) individuals can fail to understand the perspective of autistics. Jaswal and Akhtar (2019) and others have urged researchers to listen to autistic voices and systematically investigate diverse aspects of social differences between autistic and NT persons. We focus here on the topic of comfort with and expertise regarding social status hierarchies.
For example, one of the obstacles for autistics in interacting with NTs is making small talk. The goal of small-talk appears to be exchanging information about oneself to find commonalities to help a friendship develop. Anthropologically, it has darker overtones, including ferreting out the other person’s socio-economic status and material resources. Autistic author Star Ford (2010) describes this darker side, characterizing NTs as inherently status-oriented, even when presenting in an egalitarian manner. Ford’s purpose is to raise awareness that outward cooperation often masks competition, noting, among other points, “Even during small talk, NTs are performing a trial run where they reveal their points of manipulation and identity.” (p. 79). In online discussions about the book, many readers identified themselves as autistic and said the book resonated with them.
Based on these and related writings, we suggest that autistic people value the actual information being exchanged, especially when it is related to their own interests. Just as with non-autistics, the conversation can falter if no common interest is established, although many autistics enjoy hearing about others’ intense interests. These interactions suggest a social structure that is predominantly “horizontal” rather than “vertical.”
Frank L. Ludwig, an autistic photographer and independent scholar, illustrated autistic dislike of social hierarchy via a short story about an autistic community founded on principles of horizontal individualism (https://franklludwig.com/otherworld.html). An escaped convict, Casper, representing NT values, flees to an off-shore island and is surprised to be welcomed in a matter-of-fact manner while being invited to perform skill-congruent, useful work. He does not set aside his conman habits and when arrested by the local government: “Caspar looked baffled. But I thought you were my friends.” Here Ludwig implies that friendship includes “strategic ally.” A strategic ally may be expected to protect you even if you break the law. Those who alerted authorities responded:
We were . . . until we realized that you enrich yourself at the expense of others . . . you committed tax fraud . . . shun your responsibility to society . . . pile up money that doesn’t serve any purpose other than boosting your overblown ego . . .
Other examples of discomfort with social hierarchy come from autistic memoirs: Odd-girl Out (James, 2017) and Pretending to Be Normal (Holliday, 1999) discuss the alien qualities of popularity and in-group favoritism among high school girls.
As an example of questioning assumptions about autism, The Autistic Collaboration has noted:
One of the persistent negative stereotypes is that we are poor at collaboration . . . Autistic people learn and play differently, and only have a limited (if any!) interest in competitive social games. We communicate and enjoy ourselves by sharing information and knowledge, and not by negotiating social status . . . Autistic people are often noted for their honesty, their naivety, and their inability to be exploitative. The lack of self-promotional ability is typically at odds with cultural expectations (https://autcollab.org/about/).
These examples from autistic writing suggest that research into autistic sociality has missed an angle that could provide crucial insights to help autistic and non-autistic people understand each other better: the question of attention to social status. The discomfort with status hierarchies discussed in autistic writing has been ignored by researchers. Yet forum posts with items relevant to status competition are daily aired on Reddit and Quora. We easily found posts using search terms autistic status and autistic hierarchy. An example is this post from Quora.com about being
. . . a very hard worker, caught on very fast and never had negative reviews or feedback . . . So—Why I could never hold a job. I do not like rumors or gossip and am very uncomfortable being a part of it . . . I have a difficult time lying about anything more than a harmless white lie. If . . . employees maliciously gossip, puts me in situations where I have to lie for them.
In moving beyond traditional views on autistic sociality, researchers can consider autistic desires to show affection via sharing knowledge and learning. Discomfort with social hierarchy does not preclude (and may help) autistic people nurture horizontal friendships and warm relationships with family and loved ones.
Researchers can also reconsider the role and causes of intense moral integrity experienced by many autistic people as part of this “horizontality.” For example, autistic TikToker Dr. Joey argues that autistics want everyone to be held to the same moral standards. She notes that NTs are willing to allow higher-status people to have power which gives them rights over others including being above the law or paying a lesser penalty for rule violations.
The consistency of the theme of a flatter social hierarchy across diverse types of autistic writing justifies an investment in empirical explorations of this topic. When researchers approach this topic, it will be necessary to develop methods to differentiate between autistic people following norms regarding hierarchy as part of their masking strategies from intuitively approving of them. A better understanding of how autistics view status will jumpstart theoretical development and improve communication between people of different neurotypes.
