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To be or not to be emotionally aware and socially motivated: How alexithymia impacts autism spectrum disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2019

Luigi Pastore Open the ORCID record for Luigi Pastore [Opens in a new window] ,
Sara Dellantonio ,
Claudio Mulatti  and
Gianluca Esposito
Luigi Pastore
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy. luigi.pastore@uniba.ithttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luigi_Pastore
Sara Dellantonio
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy. sara.dellantonio@unitn.itgianluca.esposito@unitn.ithttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sara_Dellantoniohttp://abp.dipsco.unitn.it
Claudio Mulatti
Affiliation:
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy. claudio.mulatti@unipd.ithttp://dpss.psy.unipd.it
Gianluca Esposito
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy. sara.dellantonio@unitn.itgianluca.esposito@unitn.ithttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sara_Dellantoniohttp://abp.dipsco.unitn.it Social & Affiliative Neuroscience Lab, Psychology Program, Nanyang Technological University, HSS-04-14, Singapore. gianluca.esposito@ntu.edu.sghttps://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/sanlab/
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Abstract

Autism often co-occurs with alexithymia, a condition characterized by no or diminished awareness of emotions that significantly impacts an individual's social relationships. We investigate how the social motivation of autistics would be eroded by comorbidity with alexithymia and why this diminished motivation would be difficult for non-autistic people to perceive and reciprocate.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e106
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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