Outcomes of real-world social interaction for autistic adults paired with autistic compared to typically developing partners

Both kinds of partner rated autistic adults less warmly. Only one kind stopped wanting to meet again.

Morrison, K. E., DeBrabander, K. M., Jones, D. R., Faso, D. J., Ackerman, R. A. & Sasson, N. J. (2020). Outcomes of real-world social interaction for autistic adults paired with autistic compared to typically developing partners. Autism, 24(5), 1067–1080.

Type

Journal article

Find it

doi.org/10.1177/1362361319892701

Checked

Against the abstract, 16 September 2026

Why it is on the list

Sixty-seven autistic and 58 non-autistic participants were put into pairs — both autistic, both non-autistic, or mixed — and had a five-minute unstructured conversation with someone they had never met. Then each rated the conversation and their partner.

Autistic adults were rated more awkward, less attractive, and less socially warm by autistic and non-autistic partners alike. The judgement travelled across both groups.

Only the non-autistic adults’ interest in a future interaction followed the judgement. Autistic participants trended towards preferring other autistic partners, and reported disclosing more about themselves to autistic than to non-autistic partners.

Week 11 distinguishes an unfavourable rating from a decision not to meet again. It also uses the disclosure result to ask what changes with the partner. Week 9 raises a related question through Kluger and Malloy’s argument that much of the variance in question-asking belongs to the particular pair rather than the person.