Why Do People With Autism Find It Harder to Recognize Angry Facial Expression

Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom found that people with autism's ability to accurately identify facial expressions are affected by how fast facial expressions are produced and their intensity.

More specifically, people with autism find it harder to recognize anger from facial expressions produced at a normal or a real-world speed. The team also found that all facial expressions appeared more intensely emotional to people with a related disorder, alexithymia.

The study, "Differences Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults in the Recognition of Anger from Facial Motion Remain after Controlling for Alexithymia," is published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Autism Facial Expression Recognition

Scientists have long debated how people with autism recognize facial expressions. Scientists have explored in the past decade the relationship between autism and the related disorder alexithymia, the inability to read facial expressions, Medical Xpress reported.

The new study explores the different impacts of autism and alexithymia on the ability to accurately recognize emotions based on a person's facial expressions.

Connor Keating, Ph.D., a researcher at the School of Psychology and Center for Human Brain Health at the university and the study's lead author, said that people with autism find it hard to recognize anger in facial expressions which may suggest that autistic and non-autistic people produce expressions differently.

That could mean that it is incorrect to refer to people with autism as having an impairment or deficit in emotion, but rather they may be speaking a different language than non-autistic people when conveying their emotions.

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Their study involved 29 on-autistic people and 31 people with autism. They found that both groups had similar recognition capabilities at different speeds and intensities across all emotions shown except for angry facial expressions produced at normal speeds and intensity. This could include the expressions that are encountered in everyday life.

"When we looked at how well participants could recognize angry expressions, we found that it was definitely autistic traits that contribute, but not alexithymic traits," explained Connor, according to EurekAlert! "That suggests recognizing anger is a difficulty that's specific to autism."

Autism vs. Alexithymia

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication, behaviors, social skills, and speech. According to Philly Voice, around 1 out of 59 American children are born with autism. The condition tends to be caused by genetic risk factors although scientists do not fully understand how.

On the other hand, Connor explained that people with alexithymia have difficulty gauging the intensity of emotional facial expressions. They tend to get confused about which facial expression is presented and tend to be unaware of their own emotions and other people, making it harder for them to relate to others.

He added that learning and understanding how people with autism perceive the world could help people with autism overcome the barriers of interacting successfully.

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