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Simulated Contact and Attitudes toward Autistic Adults: Effects of Gender of the Autistic Adult and Mediation by Intergroup Anxiety

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Title: Simulated Contact and Attitudes toward Autistic Adults: Effects of Gender of the Autistic Adult and Mediation by Intergroup Anxiety
Language: English
Authors: Lydia F. Bierce, Cheryl L. Dickter, Joshua A. Burk
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2025 55(11):4153-4159.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 7
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Attitudes toward Disabilities, Adults, Intergroup Relations, Anxiety, Interpersonal Relationship, Simulation, Undergraduate Students, Labeling (of Persons), Gender Differences, Attitude Change
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06220-2
ISSN: 0162-3257
1573-3432
Abstract: Purpose: Neurotypical peers tend to have negative attitudes toward autistic peers, which may contribute to negative outcomes for autistic individuals. The present study was designed to build upon previous findings by testing whether simulating contact with an individual labeled as autistic and exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, which has been shown to improve neurotypical individuals' attitudes toward autistic peers, depended on the gender of the imagined person. We also examined whether intergroup anxiety mediated the effects of simulated contact on these attitudes. Methods: Neurotypical undergraduate participants (n = 194) were assigned to simulated contact scenarios in which the person in the imagined contact situation was labeled as autistic or not, exhibited stereotypical autistic behaviors or not and was given a female-identifying or male-identifying name. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed their attitudes toward autism, their previous contact with autistic individuals and their intergroup anxiety with future interactions with autistic people. Results: As expected, after imagining contact with a person exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, attitudes toward autistic individuals were more positive following interactions with male- but not female-identifying autistic partners. Intergroup anxiety was found to be a mediator of the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. Conclusion: These findings lend further support for imagined contact as a method to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals, identify intergroup anxiety as a mediator and begin to demonstrate some situations, such as imagining a female-identifying autistic individual, where imagined contact may not be effective in changing attitudes.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1493130
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0189005179;aut01nov.25;2025Nov03.05:02;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0189005179-1">Simulated Contact and Attitudes Toward Autistic Adults: Effects of Gender of the Autistic Adult and Mediation by Intergroup Anxiety </title> <p>Purpose: Neurotypical peers tend to have negative attitudes toward autistic peers, which may contribute to negative outcomes for autistic individuals. The present study was designed to build upon previous findings by testing whether simulating contact with an individual labeled as autistic and exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, which has been shown to improve neurotypical individuals' attitudes toward autistic peers, depended on the gender of the imagined person. We also examined whether intergroup anxiety mediated the effects of simulated contact on these attitudes. Methods: Neurotypical undergraduate participants (n = 194) were assigned to simulated contact scenarios in which the person in the imagined contact situation was labeled as autistic or not, exhibited stereotypical autistic behaviors or not and was given a female-identifying or male-identifying name. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed their attitudes toward autism, their previous contact with autistic individuals and their intergroup anxiety with future interactions with autistic people. Results: As expected, after imagining contact with a person exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, attitudes toward autistic individuals were more positive following interactions with male- but not female-identifying autistic partners. Intergroup anxiety was found to be a mediator of the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. Conclusion: These findings lend further support for imagined contact as a method to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals, identify intergroup anxiety as a mediator and begin to demonstrate some situations, such as imagining a female-identifying autistic individual, where imagined contact may not be effective in changing attitudes.</p> <p>Keywords: Autism stereotypes; Contact theory; Simulated contact; Stereotype reduction; Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology</p> <p>More autistic young adults are attending university than ever before (Barnhill, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref1">5</reflink>]; VanBergeijk et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref2">32</reflink>]; White et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref3">35</reflink>]). Although college can increase self-esteem, lead to better employment opportunities, and improve skills (Hart et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref4">16</reflink>]; Kuder & Accardo, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref5">20</reflink>]), autistic students can experience social exclusion and negative interactions with peers (e.g., Gobbo & Shmulsky, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref6">15</reflink>]; Ward & Webster, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref7">33</reflink>]; Wenzel & Brown, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref8">34</reflink>]), which can lead to problems making and maintaining relationships (Adreon & Durocher, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref9">2</reflink>]; Howlin et al., [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref10">17</reflink>]). One way to improve the social experiences of autistic students is to improve the attitudes of neurotypical students, who can hold negative stereotypes about autistic people and their behavior (Adreon & Durocher, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref11">2</reflink>]; Lipson et al., [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref12">21</reflink>]).</p> <p>Attitudes towards autistic people are more positive in neurotypical undergraduate students with greater previous contact with autistic individuals (Dickter & Burk, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref13">11</reflink>]), a finding consistent with contact theory which purports that positive intergroup contact can reduce stereotyping and improve attitudes (Allport, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref14">4</reflink>]). As intergroup contact may not always be possible, researchers have investigated whether simulating intergroup contact can be effective. This work suggests that simply imagining a positive interaction with an outgroup member can improve attitudes towards groups (Crisp & Turner, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref15">7</reflink>]; see Paluck et al., [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref16">24</reflink>]). One of the mechanisms responsible for the effect of imagined contact improving outgroup attitudes is reduced intergroup anxiety, a form of anxiety experienced when one is anticipating or engaging with certain outgroups (Crisp et al., [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref17">8</reflink>]; Stephan, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref18">28</reflink>]). Although most of this work has been conducted with improving attitudes towards identities such as race and sexual identity, recent research demonstrated that college students who imagined an interaction with an autistic peer showing stereotypically autistic behavior (i.e., perseveration) reported more positive attitudes towards autistic people compared to those who imagined interacting with a non-autistic individual or an autistic person who did not display stereotypically autistic behavior (Dickter & Burk, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref19">11</reflink>]). The mechanisms responsible for this effect were not investigated, although previous research has demonstrated that imagined contact with a schizophrenic individual weakened stereotypes via reduced anxiety about future interactions with schizophrenic people (Stathi et al., [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref20">27</reflink>]). Although we chose to focus on reduced anxiety as a mechanism, other research examining the effect of imagined contact on attitudes towards racial and sexual minority group members has revealed several additional mediators that operate concurrently (Turner et al., [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref21">30</reflink>]). For example, studies show that other mechanisms partially responsible for the effect of imagined contact on improved intergroup attitudes are more positive ingroup and outgroup norms about the approval of intergroup contact, increased outgroup trust, and less perceived threat (Abrams & Eller, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref22">1</reflink>]; Cameron et al., [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref23">6</reflink>]; Davies et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref24">9</reflink>]; De Tezanos-Pinto et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref25">10</reflink>]; Paterson et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref26">25</reflink>]).</p> <p>Research has also not examined whether attitudes towards autistic people are affected by other identities of the imagined contact partner. For example, due to the greater number of males than females recommended for diagnosis and diagnosed as autistic (Geelhand et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref27">14</reflink>]; Wilkinson, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref28">36</reflink>]) and the greater portrayal in the media of autistic males than females (Jack, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref29">18</reflink>]), people may associate autism with males more than females and thus imagined contact with an autistic male may be more effective at improving attitudes. Increased camouflaging and delayed diagnosis may also contribute to greater association of autism with males (Wood-Downie et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref30">37</reflink>]). Indeed, participants imagining interracial contact with a person described as stereotypical of the outgroup race led to more positive attitudes towards interacting with outgroup members than participants imagining interacting with somebody who was not described as stereotypical of the outgroup (Stathi et al., [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref31">26</reflink>]).</p> <p>The current study first sought to replicate the findings of Dickter and Burk ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref32">11</reflink>]), in which neurotypical college students' attitudes towards autistic people were more positive following an imagined interaction with an individual labeled as autistic who displayed behavior consistent with autism. Second, we examined whether imagined interactions with male-identifying than female-identifying individuals would be more effective, given that autism is associated with masculinity (Jack, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref33">18</reflink>]). Third, we examined whether intergroup anxiety, identified as a mediator in previous studies of imagined contact with other groups (Crisp et al., [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref34">8</reflink>]; Stathi et al., [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref35">27</reflink>]), but not well-studied as a mechanism affecting attitudes toward autistic individuals, would mediate the effect of imagined contact on attitudes towards autistic people.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-2">Methods</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0189005179-3">Participants</hd> <p>Participants were 228 students from a medium-sized southeastern United States university who were compensated with class credit. A sample size of <emph>n</emph> = 171 was determined by a power analysis using G*Power using the medium effect size for an ANCOVA from Dickter and Burk ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref36">11</reflink>]), using 0.90 power at 0.05 alpha. We oversampled to account for exclusion criteria. Participants provided informed consent prior to engagement with any study materials. Procedures were approved by the institutional Protection of Human Subjects Committee.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-4">Imagined Contact Manipulation</hd> <p>The imagined contact scenarios in the current study extend a procedure described by Dickter and Burk ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref37">11</reflink>]) that was originally adopted from Matthews and colleagues ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref38">22</reflink>]). In this procedure there were vignettes describing university students who either depicted behaviors that are typically associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; i.e., perseveration) or not, and are labeled as a university student with ASD or a non-autistic university student. The current study expanded this procedure by additionally describing the depicted student as male or female, resulting in a 2 (Label: ASD vs. non-ASD) × 2 (Behavior: Perseveration vs. No Perseveration) × 2 (Gender of Imagined Contact Partner: Male vs. Female) design. Participants were asked to imagine that they were meeting about a class project with a student they had never met before who is named Kyle or Emily (Gender Condition). Participants were told that their partner either has high functioning autism or is a typical college student (Label Condition). Participants then saw the following prompt:As a part of the first group project, you are instructed to choose a contemporary fiction book to compare and contrast to a literary classic. You ask Kyle/Emily if s/he has any ideas, and s/he immediately states that s/he would like to use The Lord of the Rings. You tell him/her that you think that is a good idea, but you mention that you are worried because it is more than 1,200 pages, which may be too long for the current assignment. You try to name three other books that you think would be more appropriate. You ask Kyle/Emily if s/he has any additional ideas. Imagine that, in response, Kyle/Emily begins a five-minute explanation of why s/he thinks The Lord of the Rings is the best choice.</p> <p>Participants in the perseveration condition also receive the following:Every time you attempt to ask Kyle/Emily about another book, s/he immediately returns to his discussion of the Lord of the Rings.</p> <p>Finally, all participants see the following instructions:As you continue to speak with Kyle/Emily during this initial conversation, you share personal experiences, expectations, and dreams for the future. During the conversation imagine that you were pleased to find out some interesting and unexpected things.</p> <p>Upon completion of the vignette, participants were instructed to write about their imagined experienced with Kyle/Emily for 4–5 min, to describe what they learned about their imagined class partner for another 4–5 min, and to indicate how successful they were at imagining the experience, rating it on a Likert-type scale from 1 = <emph>faint</emph> to 8 = <emph>vivid</emph>.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-5">Questionnaires</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0189005179-6">Feelings Thermometer (FT; Esses et al., 1993)</hd> <p>In this one-item measure, participants were asked to describe their "feelings towards individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder" on a 0 (Cold) to 100 (Warm) rating system with a midpoint of 50. Participants were presented with a sliding scale and asked to indicate their feelings by moving it to the appropriate number.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-7">Contact with Autistic Individuals</hd> <p>Adopted from Flood and colleagues ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref39">13</reflink>]), participants indicated which experiences they had with an autistic individual: employed with an autistic person, friends with an autistic person, has an autistic family member, has volunteered with an autistic person, and has been a primary caregiver for an autistic person.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-8">Societal Attitudes towards Autism Scale (SATA)</hd> <p>Developed by Flood and colleagues ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref40">13</reflink>]), this 16-item questionnaire assesses attitudes towards individuals with Autism (Flood et al., [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref41">13</reflink>]). Items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale where 1 = <emph>strongly disagree</emph> and 4 = <emph>strongly agree</emph>. Scores can range from 16 to 64 and an example item is: "Children with autism should be fully integrated into mainstream classes."</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-9">Intergroup Anxiety</hd> <p>Participants were asked, with one question, to determine the extent to which they would feel anxious meeting an autistic person in the future (adapted from Stephan & Stephan, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref42">29</reflink>]) from 0 = <emph>not at all</emph> to 4 = <emph>very</emph>.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-10">Procedure</hd> <p>Participants completed the study online in a location of their choosing. Informed consent was obtained prior to completing any study materials. Through Qualtrics software, participants were randomly assigned to one of the eight imagined contact scenarios, read their assigned vignette, and completed the writing activity and questionnaires. Upon completion participants were debriefed about the study purpose, hypotheses, and were provided contact information for the principal investigator. Participants were granted class credit as compensation.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-11">Results</hd> <p>Participants were excluded if they did not follow instructions (<emph>n</emph> = 23). Because imagined contact manipulations are most effective when the imagined scenario is more vivid (Turner et al., [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref43">30</reflink>]), we excluded additional participants whose degree of success in imagining the scenario was a 1 on the 8-point scale (<emph>n</emph> = 11). Therefore, the final sample size included 194 typically developing university students (<emph>M</emph><subs>age</subs> = 18.96, <emph>SD</emph><subs>age</subs> = 1.04; 66 male, 127 female, 1 non-binary; 5.0% African American/Black, 15.9% Asian, 14.5% biracial, 2.0% Hispanic, 59.4% White, 3.0% did not provide racial identity).</p> <p>To examine the relations between the variables of interest, Pearson <emph>r</emph> correlations were conducted. The FT was significantly correlated with previous contact with autistic individuals, <emph>r</emph>(<reflink idref="bib191" id="ref44">191</reflink>) = 0.21, <emph>p</emph> =.004, <emph>n</emph> = 193, and SATA, <emph>r</emph>(<reflink idref="bib188" id="ref45">188</reflink>) = 0.26, <emph>p</emph> <.001, <emph>n</emph> = 190[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref46">1</reflink>]. Because the FT, our dependent variable of interest, was correlated with these two variables, contact and SATA were used as covariates in the below analyses. Contact and SATA were not correlated, <emph>r</emph>(<reflink idref="bib193" id="ref47">193</reflink>) = 0.12, <emph>p</emph> =.091, <emph>n</emph> = 190. See Table 1 for correlations among variables.</p> <p>Table 1 Correlations among self-report variables</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" /><th align="left"><p>1</p></th><th align="left"><p>2</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>1. Feelings Thermometer</p></td><td align="left"><p>-</p></td><td align="left" /></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>2. Contact with Autistic Individuals</p></td><td align="left"><p>− 0.21*</p></td><td align="left"><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>3. Societal Attitudes towards Autism</p></td><td align="left"><p>0.26*</p></td><td align="left"><p>0.12</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>To examine whether attitudes towards autistic individuals, as assessed by the FT, would be affected by the manipulations, a 2 (Label: ASD vs. non-ASD) × 2 (Behavior: Perseveration vs. No Perseveration) × 2 (Gender: Male vs. Female) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with prior contact and SATA as covariates was conducted. Results revealed no significant main effects (<emph>p</emph>s > 0.27), no significant Gender x Perseveration interaction, nor a three-way interaction (<emph>p</emph> >.60). However, as hypothesized, there was a significant Label x Perseveration interaction, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref48">1</reflink>, 179) = 3.96, <emph>p</emph> =.048, <emph>η</emph><subs>p</subs><sups>2</sups> = 0.022 (see Fig. 1). Planned comparisons demonstrated that, for the no perseveration condition, there was not a significant effect of label, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref49">1</reflink>, 87) = 0.58, <emph>p</emph> =.447, <emph>η</emph><subs>p</subs><sups>2</sups> = 0.007. However, for the perseveration condition, there was a significant effect of label, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref50">1</reflink>, 94) = 4.11, <emph>p</emph> =.045, <emph>η</emph><subs>p</subs><sups>2</sups> = 0.042, such that attitudes towards autistic individuals were more positive in the ASD condition (<emph>M</emph> = 79.95, <emph>SE</emph> = 2.76) than the non-ASD condition (<emph>M</emph> = 72.15, <emph>SE</emph> = 2.65).</p> <p>Graph: Fig. 1 Attitudes towards autistic individuals, as measured by the Feelings Thermometer, as a function of ASD condition and Perseveration condition (asterisk indicates a significant difference in attitudes among the ASD and non-ASD conditions during the perseveration condition, p <.05)</p> <p>There was also a significant Label x Gender interaction, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref51">1</reflink>, 179) = 4.16, <emph>p</emph> =.043, <emph>η</emph><subs>p</subs><sups>2</sups> = 0.023 (see Fig. 2). Planned comparisons demonstrated that, for the female condition, there was not a significant effect of label, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref52">1</reflink>, 85) = 1.16, <emph>p</emph> =.285, <emph>η</emph><subs>p</subs><sups>2</sups> = 0.013. However, for the male condition, there was a significant effect of label, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref53">1</reflink>, 96) = 4.84, <emph>p</emph> =.030, <emph>η</emph><subs>p</subs><sups>2</sups> = 0.048, such that attitudes towards autistic individuals were more positive in the ASD label condition (<emph>M</emph> = 80.43, <emph>SE</emph> = 3.00) than the non-ASD condition (<emph>M</emph> = 71.31, <emph>SE</emph> = 2.83).</p> <p>Graph: Fig. 2 Attitudes towards autistic individuals, as measured by the Feelings Thermometer, as a function of ASD condition and Gender condition (asterisk indicates a significant difference in attitudes among the ASD and non-ASD conditions during the male-identifying name condition, p <.05)</p> <p>Mediation analyses using Hayes Macro PROCESS in SPSS via bootstrapping method Model 4 were conducted to examine whether the mechanism for the effect of ASD condition on feelings thermometer was anxiety in future interactions with autistic people. Participants in the ASD condition had more positive expectations about future relations with autistic people than those in the non-ASD condition, B = 9.40, <emph>t</emph> = 2.34, <emph>p</emph> =.021. Positive expectations were associated with more positive attitudes, B = 8.47, <emph>t</emph> = 5.36, <emph>p</emph> <.001. The indirect effect of condition on FT was significant for the perseveration condition (B = 4.39, 95% CI [0.60, 9.19]), suggesting reduced anxiety with future interactions with autistic people is a mediator (see Fig. 3).</p> <p>Graph: Fig. 3 Effects of imagined contact condition on Feelings Thermometer as mediated by reduced anxiety with future interactions with autistic people</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-12">Discussion</hd> <p>The present study was designed to achieve three goals. The first goal was to replicate a previous finding that neurotypical students' attitudes toward autistic individuals were more positive following an imagined interaction in which the individual displaying behaviors consistent with autism and was also labeled as autistic (Dickter & Burk, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref54">11</reflink>]). As assessed by the FT, the present findings showed that when the imagined contact involved somebody engaged in perseverative behavior, participant attitudes were more positive when the imagined person was labeled as autistic compared with when that label was not given. These findings, in a new sample of participants, suggest that the information provided by a label may lead neurotypical individuals to better understand the basis for an autistic behavior and therefore lead to more positive attitudes toward autistic individuals.</p> <p>A second goal of the present study was to test whether imagining contact with a male-identifying person, compared with a female-identifying person, would lead to more positive attitudes when the person was labeled as autistic. As assessed by the FT, we found an effect of label when a stereotypical male name was included in the imagined contact scenario, with more positive attitudes when there was a label of autism compared with when there was no label. Label did not differentially affect attitudes when a stereotypical female name was included in the imagined contact scenario. The basis for the effect of label with a male-identifying individual deserves further investigation. One possibility is that with autism being diagnosed at higher rates in males and media portrayals of autistic individuals being more likely to include males (Nordahl-Hansen & Øien, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref55">23</reflink>]), it may have been easier to imagine contact with a male-identifying autistic individual compared with a female-identifying autistic individual. Further investigation into the processes engaged during the imagined contact scenario is warranted to test this explanation.</p> <p>The third goal of the present study was to test whether intergroup anxiety would mediate the effect of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. The model supported the conclusion that reduced anxiety with future interactions with autistic people was a mediator of the effect of ASD condition on the FT. This finding is consistent with other studies that have found that intergroup anxiety is a mediator of imagined contact effects (Crisp et al., [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref56">8</reflink>]; Stathi et al., [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref57">27</reflink>]). The present finding builds upon the existing literature in two ways. First, the finding lays the groundwork for identifying mechanisms that underlie the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. Second, this finding extends previous work regarding intergroup anxiety as a mediator of imagined contact effects to a scenario involving interactions with an autistic individual.</p> <p>The conclusions drawn from the present study need to be tempered by several limitations. First, the sample in this study included university students, which may not be representative of the general population. Second, this study explored gender effects in a binary manner. Particularly given that non-binary gender identification occurs at higher rates in the autistic community compared with the general population (Kristensen & Broome, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref58">19</reflink>]), future studies should investigate changes in attitudes when imagining contact with a non-binary individual labeled as autistic. Future research should also examine whether the racial identity of the autistic individual or the intersectionality between race and gender identities affects attitudes. We also note that two of our measures, FT and intergroup anxiety, were assessed with a single item. The advantages and disadvantages of using single-item measures have been discussed (Allen et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref59">3</reflink>]). Future research would benefit from comparing the validity of these single item measures with multi-item measures designed to assess similar constructs. Finally, we explored a single mediator in the present study. Future research should build upon this relatively simple model to develop a more complete understanding of the mechanisms, such as increased empathy, that may underlie the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. In conclusion, the present results replicated previous effects of imagined interaction with a person displaying autistic behaviors and labeled as autistic, found support for differences in attitude change based on the gender identification of the person in the imagined contact scenario and identified a potential mediator, intergroup anxiety, for the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-13">Declarations</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0189005179-14">Competing Interests</hd> <p>The authors have no financial or non-financial competing interests.</p> <hd id="AN0189005179-15">Publisher's Note</hd> <p>Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.</p> <ref id="AN0189005179-16"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref22" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Abrams, D, & Eller, A. (2016). 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  Data: Simulated Contact and Attitudes toward Autistic Adults: Effects of Gender of the Autistic Adult and Mediation by Intergroup Anxiety
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lydia+F%2E+Bierce%22">Lydia F. Bierce</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cheryl+L%2E+Dickter%22">Cheryl L. Dickter</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Joshua+A%2E+Burk%22">Joshua A. Burk</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Autism+and+Developmental+Disorders%22"><i>Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders</i></searchLink>. 2025 55(11):4153-4159.
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  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
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  Data: 7
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Autism+Spectrum+Disorders%22">Autism Spectrum Disorders</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attitudes+toward+Disabilities%22">Attitudes toward Disabilities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adults%22">Adults</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intergroup+Relations%22">Intergroup Relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anxiety%22">Anxiety</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+Relationship%22">Interpersonal Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Simulation%22">Simulation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Undergraduate+Students%22">Undergraduate Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Labeling+%28of+Persons%29%22">Labeling (of Persons)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+Differences%22">Gender Differences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attitude+Change%22">Attitude Change</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1007/s10803-023-06220-2
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  Data: 0162-3257<br />1573-3432
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  Data: Purpose: Neurotypical peers tend to have negative attitudes toward autistic peers, which may contribute to negative outcomes for autistic individuals. The present study was designed to build upon previous findings by testing whether simulating contact with an individual labeled as autistic and exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, which has been shown to improve neurotypical individuals' attitudes toward autistic peers, depended on the gender of the imagined person. We also examined whether intergroup anxiety mediated the effects of simulated contact on these attitudes. Methods: Neurotypical undergraduate participants (n = 194) were assigned to simulated contact scenarios in which the person in the imagined contact situation was labeled as autistic or not, exhibited stereotypical autistic behaviors or not and was given a female-identifying or male-identifying name. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed their attitudes toward autism, their previous contact with autistic individuals and their intergroup anxiety with future interactions with autistic people. Results: As expected, after imagining contact with a person exhibiting stereotypical autistic behaviors, attitudes toward autistic individuals were more positive following interactions with male- but not female-identifying autistic partners. Intergroup anxiety was found to be a mediator of the effects of imagined contact on attitudes toward autistic individuals. Conclusion: These findings lend further support for imagined contact as a method to improve attitudes toward autistic individuals, identify intergroup anxiety as a mediator and begin to demonstrate some situations, such as imagining a female-identifying autistic individual, where imagined contact may not be effective in changing attitudes.
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