Abstract
This study examined the similarity hypothesis in empathy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits among adolescents. The participants included 171 college students (91 men and 80 women). This study used four scales: (1) Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), (2) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), (3) empathy responses scale, and (4) similarity scores in the character of an individual with ASD traits (character A) and without ASD traits (character B). The perspective-taking, fantasy, and empathic concern scores on the IRI among participants with high AQ scores were significantly lower than participants with low AQ scores. However, personal distress scores on the IRI among participants with high AQ scores were considerably higher than participants with low AQ scores. These results were consistent with previous studies among individuals with ASD. Therefore, individuals with strong ASD traits have difficulty understanding other people’s perspectives and feel distressed about others experiencing problems. Furthermore, the empathic concern scores for those who evaluated themselves as similar were significantly higher than those who evaluated themselves as dissimilar among participants with low and those with high AQ scores. Therefore, our findings support the similarity hypothesis for empathy among adolescents with ASD traits. Future studies should investigate whether the tendencies observed in this study are also observed among individuals diagnosed with ASD.
