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Asperger's syndrome: Difference between revisions
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Psychopathic traits include a lower arousal threshold (less or no fear, desire for extreme stimulation, very low inhibition) and it is argued these improve mating success in men, whereas autism is detrimental to mating success.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-019-00213-0</ref> | Psychopathic traits include a lower arousal threshold (less or no fear, desire for extreme stimulation, very low inhibition) and it is argued these improve mating success in men, whereas autism is detrimental to mating success.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-019-00213-0</ref> | ||
In a similar vein, Overskied (2016) argued that many powerful politicians throughout recent history, such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former US president Lyndon B Johnson, and the former South African president Nelson Mandela, among many others, exhibited significant subclinical autistic traits, and argued increase in male [[reproductive success]] associated with this status could explain some of the apparent increase in the prevalence of ASD in recent times. Overskied attempted to explain the discrepancy in the diagnosis of the disorder by sex by noting the reproductive success associated with high status is typically only found in men, with women's high status decreasing their reproductive success. He claims these subclinical autistic behaviors shared a common cause with actual autism, pre-natal [[testosterone]] exposure, | In a similar vein, Overskied (2016) argued that many powerful politicians throughout recent history, such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former US president Lyndon B Johnson, and the former South African president Nelson Mandela, among many others, exhibited significant subclinical autistic traits, and argued increase in male [[reproductive success]] associated with this status could explain some of the apparent increase in the prevalence of ASD in recent times. Overskied attempted to explain the discrepancy in the diagnosis of the disorder by sex by noting the reproductive success associated with high status is typically only found in men, with women's high status decreasing their reproductive success. He claims these subclinical autistic behaviors shared a common cause with actual autism, pre-natal [[testosterone]] exposure, per Baron-Cohen's extreme male brain theory. He also stated that the high cortisol levels often found in autistics may serve to inhibit the expression of such socially dominant behaviors in them, whereas the powerful figures he claimed exhibited sub-clinical autistic traits may not be subject to such high cortisol levels. <ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005963/</ref> | ||
Other theorists have examined autism through a [[life history]] framework, claiming that autism represents an extreme slow [[life history]] strategy (later age of reproduction, slower growth, focus on acquiring resources instead of early reproduction, and so on), with autistic traits perhaps being associated with the acquisition of specialized skills that may have served to enhance the eventual reproductive success of individuals that bore these traits in human's ancestral past. Some research has indeed indicated that autistic traits are associated with other traits that reflect a slow life history strategy, while schizotypic traits were found to possibly reflect a fast life history strategy.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513814000580</ref> | Other theorists have examined autism through a [[life history]] framework, claiming that autism represents an extreme slow [[life history]] strategy (later age of reproduction, slower growth, focus on acquiring resources instead of early reproduction, and so on), with autistic traits perhaps being associated with the acquisition of specialized skills that may have served to enhance the eventual reproductive success of individuals that bore these traits in human's ancestral past. Some research has indeed indicated that autistic traits are associated with other traits that reflect a slow life history strategy, while schizotypic traits were found to possibly reflect a fast life history strategy.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513814000580</ref> | ||