Roles of empathy in altruistic cooperation in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Altruism Autism spectrum disorder Cooperation Empathy Motivation

Journal

Heliyon
ISSN: 2405-8440
Titre abrégé: Heliyon
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101672560

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
30 Aug 2024
Historique:
received: 10 05 2023
revised: 02 08 2024
accepted: 13 08 2024
medline: 10 9 2024
pubmed: 10 9 2024
entrez: 10 9 2024
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Altruistic cooperation (AC) is essential in human social interactions. Previous studies have investigated AC-related behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), revealing that there is considerable individual variability in the behavior. However, this issue is still largely unexplored especially in the adult population. To investigate individual differences in AC-related behavior, we conducted the resource allocation task (RAT) and modified version of the ultimatum game (mUG) among adults with and without ASD. The study employed a cross-sectional design, involving 27 adults with ASD (mean age 29.1 ± 4.3 years; three females) and 27 adults with typical development (TD) (mean age 25.8 ± 6.7 years; two females), who completed the RAT and mUG tasks. Beyond clinical characteristics, we assessed three primary psychological metrics: the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), Barratt impulsiveness scale, and the behavioral inhibition and activation systems. No significant differences were observed in the proportions of participants with high AC when assessed by RAT (p = 0.15) and mUG (p = 0.59) between the TD and ASD groups. Participants with high AC from the RAT demonstrated higher perspective-taking scores on the IRI than those with low AC within both the TD (p = 0.04) and ASD groups (p = 0.03). In the TD group, high AC individuals also scored higher on the IRI's fantasy subscale as per the mUG (p = 0.03); however, this trend was not present in the ASD group. The present findings indicate that empathy plays an important role in individual differences in AC-related behavior among adults with and without ASD, although the role could be different depending on the types of AC-related behavior between TD and ASD populations.

Sections du résumé

Background UNASSIGNED
Altruistic cooperation (AC) is essential in human social interactions. Previous studies have investigated AC-related behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), revealing that there is considerable individual variability in the behavior. However, this issue is still largely unexplored especially in the adult population.
Aims UNASSIGNED
To investigate individual differences in AC-related behavior, we conducted the resource allocation task (RAT) and modified version of the ultimatum game (mUG) among adults with and without ASD.
Methods and procedures UNASSIGNED
The study employed a cross-sectional design, involving 27 adults with ASD (mean age 29.1 ± 4.3 years; three females) and 27 adults with typical development (TD) (mean age 25.8 ± 6.7 years; two females), who completed the RAT and mUG tasks. Beyond clinical characteristics, we assessed three primary psychological metrics: the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), Barratt impulsiveness scale, and the behavioral inhibition and activation systems.
Outcomes and results UNASSIGNED
No significant differences were observed in the proportions of participants with high AC when assessed by RAT (p = 0.15) and mUG (p = 0.59) between the TD and ASD groups. Participants with high AC from the RAT demonstrated higher perspective-taking scores on the IRI than those with low AC within both the TD (p = 0.04) and ASD groups (p = 0.03). In the TD group, high AC individuals also scored higher on the IRI's fantasy subscale as per the mUG (p = 0.03); however, this trend was not present in the ASD group.
Conclusions and implications UNASSIGNED
The present findings indicate that empathy plays an important role in individual differences in AC-related behavior among adults with and without ASD, although the role could be different depending on the types of AC-related behavior between TD and ASD populations.

Identifiants

DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36255 PMID: 39253246 PMC: PMC11382198
pubmed: 39253246
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36255
pii: S2405-8440(24)12286-4
pmc: PMC11382198
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

e36255

Informations de copyright

© 2024 The Authors.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Auteurs

Shoko Okuzumi (S)

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Shisei Tei (S)

Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaracho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Institute of Applied Brain Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15, Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan.
School of Human and Social Sciences, Tokyo International University, 2509, Matoba, Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan.

Takashi Itahashi (T)

Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Yuta Y Aoki (YY)

Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Ryu-Ichiro Hashimoto (RI)

Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Language Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Osawa, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo, Japan.

Motoaki Nakamura (M)

Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Kanagawa Psychiatric Center, 2-5-1 Serigaya, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.

Hidehiko Takahashi (H)

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaracho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Center for Brain Integration Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Haruhisa Ohta (H)

Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Junya Fujino (J)

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, 6-11-11 Kita-karasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawaracho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.

Classifications MeSH