mobile screenshot of an article titled "Object personification in autism: This paper will be very sad if you don't read it"
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[–] 29 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

But this is why we study things?

Here, read for yourself (PDF link)

Glancing at their results there is appears to be a trend and that's fine.

To conclude, we have provided the first slice of empirical evidence to suggest that autistic individuals may demonstrate a propensity toward object personification and anthropomorphism. It must be noted that our clinical sample was based on self-report (rather than objectively verified diagnoses) and respondents were recruited via convenience sampling – both of which may reduce the generalisability of the findings. However the results appear to echo the anecdotal comments made by autistic individuals. Furthermore, in our review of online forums, we were struck by the distressing tone of many posts (WrongPlanet.net, 2017). Autistic individuals reported sadness and despair when faced with an object that might be hurt or lonely, and several asked whether they might receive “help for their problem”. It will be important for future work to establish the frequency with which object personification causes distress, and if necessary, to identify possible structures for providing support.

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