Symptoms of Asperger's Disorder predict dyadic relationship expectations for same-sex friends, cross-sex friends, and romantic partners
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Abstract
Dyads of close friends and romantic partners from a non-clinical population were investigated to see if their specific levels of Asperger's Disorder (AD) characteristics (i.e. social skills) as well as levels of relationship expectations were perceived to be similar. Participants included 152 students (77 males and 75 females, mean age = 19.65 years) from the University of Texas at San Antonio who were given an Expectations scale and two Autism-Spectrum Quotient scales (one for their own perceived traits and one to fill out for their partner's perceived traits). Pearson product-moment correlations were conducted for each relationship partner in the dyads and expectation type with the five AQ subscale scores. This study found that those who are perceived to be similar in their level of AD characteristics also have similar emotional expectations for one another. The results have implications both for AD social-treatment interventions and future research.