A study examines theories about sex differences and autism. The empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory of sex differences posits that people can be classified along the dimensions of empathy and systemizing, and that females on average score higher on empathy than males, whereas males on average score higher on systemizing than females. The extreme male brain (EMB) theory proposes that autistic individuals, on average, are likely to have a masculinized shift along the two dimensions--lower empathy and equal or higher systemizing--compared with neurotypical individuals. David Greenberg, Simon Baron-Cohen, and colleagues tested 10 predictions of these theories in more than 600,000 people, 16-89 years of age. Females on average had a higher Empathy Quotient (EQ) than males, whereas males on average had a higher Systemizing Quotient (SQ) than females. The difference between EQ and SQ accounted for 43% of the variance in autistic traits, compared with 2.3% accounted for by demographic variables. EQ was higher than SQ in a higher number of females than males, and vice versa. The majority of autistic individuals, regardless of sex, exhibited a masculinized shift--SQ higher than EQ. Analysis of an independent sample of more than 14,000 people, ages 18-88 years, mirrored the results. According to the authors, the results support both the E-S and EMB theories.
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Article #18-11032: "Testing the Empathizing-Systemizing theory of sex differences and the Extreme Male Brain theory of autism in half a million people," by David M. Greenberg, Varun Warrier, Carrie Allison, and Simon Baron-Cohen.
MEDIA CONTACT: David M. Greenberg, University of Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM; e-mail: dmg39@cam.ac.uk; Simon Baron-Cohen, University of Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM; e-mail: sb205@cam.ac.uk; Craig Brierley, University of Cambridge, UNITED KINGDOM; tel: +44-7957-468218; e-mail: craig.brierley@admin.cam.ac.uk
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences