Understanding autistic identity contingencies: The chain mediation effect of autism acceptance and loneliness in ableist microaggressions and social camouflage

Ableist microaggressions-subtle forms of disability-based discrimination-constitute a key minority stressor. Amplified by autistic identity contingencies that shape how autistic identity is judged and treated in social contexts, these factors drive social camouflage in autistic adults, compelling them to conceal autistic characteristics for adapting to non-autistic groups, often resulting in negative mental health outcomes. This study proposes a novel autistic identity contingencies model to explore how autism acceptance and loneliness mediate the relationship between ableist microaggressions and social camouflage. An online survey of 330 autistic adults was conducted, followed by hierarchical multiple regression and chain mediation analyses. Results revealed that, ableist microaggressions positively predicted three social camouflage phenotypes: compensation, masking, and assimilation, with loneliness also positively predicting assimilation. Furthermore, after controlling for personal attributes, general stress and mental health conditions, lower external autism acceptance and higher loneliness mediated the positive relationship between ableist microaggressions and assimilation, whereas internal autism acceptance showed no significant effect. Assimilation is uniquely shaped by social autistic identity threats and loneliness, distinguishing it from compensation and masking. These findings highlight social camouflage as responses to minority stressors driven by social autistic identity contingencies, rooted in stigmatised behaviours rather than in stigmatised personal autistic identity.Lay AbstractSociety's perceptions of autism, reflected in subtle discrimination against autistic people, cause autistic adults to hide their true selves. They may hide their autistic traits to fit in with others, especially in groups that do not understand autism. Although this can help autistic people be accepted, it often leads to exhaustion and problems with mental health. However, the invisible ways in which autistic adults are judged and treated in daily social activities and how this impacts their strategies for camouflaging their autistic traits is poorly understood. This study examined the effects of feeling accepted as an autistic person, either by oneself or by others, and experiencing loneliness on how autistic adults camouflage being autistic when facing subtle discrimination related to their disability status. We surveyed 330 autistic adults using online questionnaires. After accounting for personal differences, subtle discrimination was positively associated with three camouflaging strategies: compensating for social challenges, covering up differences, and blending in with others. Feeling lonely was also positively associated with blending in with others. Additionally, after accounting for personal differences, stress levels, and mental health, feeling accepted by others as an autistic person and feeling lonely affected how subtle discrimination led to blending in with others. However, self-acceptance of being autistic was not associated with this relationship.This suggests that treatment by others shapes autistic adults' need to hide their identity more than their self-acceptance of being autistic. Therefore, addressing how autistic adults are judged and treated in daily social activities is more critical than focusing on personal change.