The effect of autistic traits on prosocial behavior: The chain mediating role of received social support and perceived social support

Abstract

There is growing evidence that the defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorder are distributed across the general population; therefore, understanding the correlates of prosocial behavior in individuals with high levels of autistic traits could shed light on autism spectrum disorder and prosocial behavior. In this study, the mechanism underlying the influence of individuals’ autistic traits on their prosocial behavior was explored by conducting a questionnaire survey of 414 Chinese college students. The results showed that autistic traits can influence individuals’ prosocial behavior not only through the separate effects of received social support and perceived social support but also through the chain mediating effects of received social support and perceived social support; however, the direct effect of autistic traits on individuals’ prosocial behavior is not significant. This study is conducive to understanding the internal mechanism underlying the relationship between autistic traits and prosocial behavior. Future work is required to further investigate the clinical autism spectrum disorder samples and cross-cultural applicability of the model found in this study. Lay abstract Autistic traits are known to be associated with a set of core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. The impact of autistic traits on prosocial behavior, including a consideration of the role of social support, has never been explored. We investigated whether and how social support mediates the autistic trait–prosocial behavior relationship. We found that autistic traits can influence prosocial behavior not only through received social support and perceived social support but also indirectly through the chain mediating effects of received social support and perceived social support. This study contributes to the understanding of how and to what extent prosocial behavior is influenced by autistic traits. Future work is required to further investigate the clinical autism spectrum disorder samples and cross-cultural applicability of the model found in this study.