Attitudes to Interpersonal Touch in the Workplace in Autistic and Non-Autistic Groups

Autor/inn/en	Penton, Tegan; Bowling, Natalie; Vafeiadou, Aikaterini; Hammond, Claudia; Bird, Geoffrey; Banissy, Michael J.
Titel	Attitudes to Interpersonal Touch in the Workplace in Autistic and Non-Autistic Groups
Quelle	In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53 (2023) 12, S.4731-4743 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0162-3257
DOI	10.1007/s10803-022-05710-z
Schlagwörter	Tactual Perception; Interpersonal Relationship; Nonverbal Communication; Work Environment; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Social Isolation; Well Being; Attitude Measures; Employee Attitudes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Taktile Wahrnehmung; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation; Arbeitsmilieu; Autism; Autismus; Soziale Isolation; Well-being; Wellness; Wohlbefinden; Arbeitnehmerinteresse
Abstract	Unemployment and underemployment have consistently been shown to be higher in autistic adults relative to non-autistic adults. This may be due, in part, to a lack of workplace accommodations being made for autistic people. One factor that may contribute to employment inequalities in autistic people is differences in attitudes towards interpersonal touch. This study acts as a preliminary investigation into whether employed autistic and non-autistic participants differ in their attitudes towards touch in the workplace, and in their loneliness and wellbeing. The current dataset was drawn from a larger online survey (the Touch Test) designed to explore attitudes and experiences towards touch. We found that employed autistic participants had more negative attitudes to general, social and workplace touch relative to non-autistic participants. Autistic participants also experienced greater loneliness and reduced wellbeing. Attachment-related anxiety was the only significant predictor of wellbeing in employed autistic adults. However, attachment-related anxiety, general attitudes to touch and the role of touch in the workplace predicted wellbeing in employed non-autistic adults. With regards to loneliness, general attitudes to touch and the role of touch in the workplace predicted loneliness in autistic participants. We also replicated the finding that a greater proportion of autistic participants were unemployed relative to non-autistic participants. Collectively, this research highlights the importance of considering touch in research investigating employment, and its impact on loneliness and wellbeing, in autistic participants. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01