Reduced Affiliative Behavior in Autism Reflects Greater Dependence on Perceived Similarity

Reduced Affiliative Behavior in Autism Reflects Greater Dependence on Perceived Similarity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reduced Affiliative Behavior in Autism Reflects Greater Dependence on Perceived Similarity Yu Hao, Alessandra Yu, Sarah Banker, Matthew Schafer, Ember Zhang, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9281318/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social difficulties in autism are often framed as reduced motivation, yet this account does not explain when and why autistic individuals affiliate. We show that autism selectively alters the architecture—not the presence—of similarity-based social behavior. Across two independent samples (online, n = 714; in-person, n = 225), autistic and neurotypical adults exhibited comparable context-dependent (selective) preference for relatively similar others. In contrast, autistic individuals showed a markedly stronger global coupling between perceived similarity and affiliative behavior, such that low perceived similarity was associated with sharply reduced affiliation. This effect was strongest among those with lower trait empathy. Structural MRI revealed dissociable contributions of hippocampal and posterior cingulate cortex volumes to this coupling across groups. These findings demonstrate that autism preserves similarity attraction while amplifying its role as a stable heuristic for social engagement, supporting a model in which social motivation is restructured toward similarity-dependent engagement rather than diminished. Social science/Psychology/Human behaviour Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Social behaviour Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour autism spectrum disorder similarity attraction empathy hippocampus posterior cingulate cortex Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9281318","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":615850326,"identity":"cfcd05b0-2c4d-4f48-8442-49f1da3a8fde","order_by":0,"name":"Yu 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