Reputation Management in Children on the Autism Spectrum

Eilidh Cage, Geoffrey Bird, Elizabeth Pellicano

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Being able to manage reputation is an important social skill, but it is unclear whether autistic children can manage reputation. This study investigated whether 33 autistic children matched to 33 typical children could implicitly or explicitly manage reputation. Further, we examined whether cognitive processes—theory of mind, social motivation, inhibitory control and reciprocity—contribute to reputation management. Results showed that neither group implicitly managed reputation, and there was no group difference in explicit reputation management. Results suggested different mechanisms contribute to reputation management in these groups—social motivation in typical children and reciprocity in autistic children. Explicit reputation management is achievable for autistic children, and there are individual differences in its relationship to underlying cognitive processes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3798-3811
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume46
Issue number12
Early online date30 Sept 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2016

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