Camouflaging in an everyday social context: An interpersonal recall study

Julia Cook*, Laura Crane, Laura Bourne, Laura Hull, William Mandy

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Camouflaging is a social phenomenon operating within everyday social interactions of autistic and non-autistic people. The current study explored autistic adults’ camouflaging in an everyday social context via interpersonal process recall methodology (Kegan, 1969). A total of 17 autistic adults (8 females, 6 males and 3 agender/gender-neutral individuals) participated in a 10-min controlled social task designed to replicate a common day-to-day social situation. Participants then watched a video of their interaction with a researcher, actively identifying instances of camouflaging and discussing their experiences of camouflaging. Using thematic analysis, four themes were generated: (1) a strong desire for, yet uncertainty in, securing social acceptance and connection; (2) camouflaging, developed over time, as a means to achieve social acceptance and connection; (3) experiencing intrapersonal and interpersonal camouflaging consequences during social interactions; and (4) authentic socialising as an alternative to camouflaging. These findings are discussed with reference to the existing literature on stigma management outside the field of autism.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1444–1456
Number of pages13
JournalAutism
Volume25
Issue number5
Early online date19 Feb 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: Julia Cook is funded by a doctoral scholarship from the University College of London.

Keywords

  • adults
  • autism spectrum disorders
  • qualitative research
  • social cognition
  • social behaviour

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