EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Students’ Stereotypes of Autism

Chantelle Wood and Megan Freeth

Journal of Educational Issues, 2016, vol. 2, issue 2, 131140

Abstract: This research aimed to ascertain the contents (Study 1) and valence (Study 2) of the stereotype associated with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) in university students. Study 1 used a free-response methodology where participants listed the characteristics that they thought society associates with individuals with ASC. This study revealed that the stereotypic traits most frequently reported by students without personal experience of ASC were poor social skills, being introverted and withdrawn, poor communication and difficult personality or behaviour. Study 2 had participants rate the valence of the 10 most frequently mentioned stereotypic traits identified in Study 1, along with additional traits frequently used to describe disabled and non-disabled people. This study found that eight of the ten most frequently listed stereotypic traits from Study 1 were seen as negative, and were rated significantly more negatively than traits used to describe non-disabled people. The knowledge of the contents and valence of the stereotype of ASC gained from this research can be used to tackle negative aspects of this stereotype.

Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/jei/article/download/9975/8240 (application/pdf)
https://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/jei/article/view/9975 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mth:jeijnl:v:2:y:2016:i:2:p:131140

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Educational Issues is currently edited by Priscilla Ann

More articles in Journal of Educational Issues from Macrothink Institute
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Technical Support Office ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:mth:jeijnl:v:2:y:2016:i:2:p:131140