Effects of Language and Imagined Contact on Bias Against Autistic Individuals

In the last decade, several studies have examined the effects of language and labeling on bias against autistic individuals. These studies have found that imagining an interaction with a person labeled as autistic improves participants’ implicit and explicit bias against autistic individuals. A dimension of labeling that has received only limited scrutiny is the effects of person-first and identity-first language on perceptions of autistic individuals. To both examine these effects and further explore the effects of labeling on bias, this study manipulated an imagined contact exercise using differing forms of language and labeling. Participants displayed more explicit bias against an imagined peer displaying stereotypical autistic traits if the individual was not labeled as autistic. Neither explicit nor implicit bias against autistic individuals were affected by the manipulation. This study also did not find any effect between person-first and identity-first language on any of the measures used. While these findings were unrelated to the hypotheses of this study, several correlations between gender, autistic traits, experience with autistic people, and explicit attitudes towards autistic individuals were explored. The practical and theoretical implications of the findings of this study regarding the mechanisms of stigma against autistic people are discussed.