Neurotypical Peers are Less Willing to Interact with Those with Autism based on Thin Slice Judgments

Observers judged autistic people less favourably within seconds, from style alone. Given only what was said, the gap disappeared.

Sasson, N. J., Faso, D. J., Nugent, J., Lovell, S., Kennedy, D. P. & Grossman, R. B. (2017). Neurotypical Peers are Less Willing to Interact with Those with Autism based on Thin Slice Judgments. Scientific Reports, 7, 40700.

Type

Journal article

Find it

doi.org/10.1038/srep40700

Checked

Against the abstract, 15 September 2026

Why it is on the list

Across three studies, first impressions of autistic people formed from brief clips were less favourable, and came with less willingness to interact. When observers judged the content of what people said, without the audio-visual cues, the difference went away. The paper’s own vocabulary is clinical; its finding points at the observer. The course uses it for the field note’s first rule: write down what was said and done before any impression of how it came across.