Opinion
Reconsidering autistic ‘camouflaging’ as transactional impression management

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.05.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Autistic ‘camouflaging’ (or masking, compensation, accommodation, or passing as non-autistic) is associated with social adaptation and wellbeing in some autistic individuals, but the unclear conceptual structure impedes research interpretation and directions.

  • ‘Camouflaging’ conceptually overlaps with ubiquitous impression management (IM) in humans, yet unique aspects exist considering autistic cognition in neurotypical contexts across motivations, neurocognition, and consequences for wellbeing.

  • Autistic–autistic dyads experience more efficient and rewarding interactions compared with cross-neurotype dyads, suggesting that autistic social challenges should always be understood within their interactive contexts.

  • The transactional, context-dependent, dynamic, and iterative nature of IM warrants a generalized computational account that is extensible to autistic cognition.

Social performances pervade human interactions. Some autistic people describe their social performances as ‘camouflaging’ and engage in these performances to mitigate social challenges and survive in the neurotypical world. Here, we reconsider autistic camouflaging under the unifying framework of impression management (IM) by examining overlapping and unique motivations, neurocognitive mechanisms, and consequences. Predictive coding and Bayesian principles are synthesized into a computational model of IM that applies to autistic and neurotypical people. Throughout, we emphasize the inherently transactional, context-dependent nature of IM, the distinct computational challenges faced by autistic people, and the psychological toll that compelled IM can take. Viewing camouflaging through this lens highlights the pressing needs to change societal attitudes, destigmatize autism, refine social skills-building programs for autistic individuals, and integrate these programs with environment-focused support.

Section snippets

Revisiting autistic ‘camouflaging’

The concept of ‘camouflaging’ (see Glossary) has recently garnered considerable interest in autism and mental health research [1,2]. Broadly, camouflaging refers to neurodivergent individuals’ efforts to minimize the visibility of their differences (e.g., autism). Such efforts have also been described as ‘accommodation/adaptation/coping strategies’, ‘masking’, ‘compensation’, and ‘passing as non-autistic’ [3] in autobiographical and clinician writings [4., 5., 6.] and recent empirical studies [3

The conceptual inclusion of camouflaging as impression management

Goffman described IM as the regulation of information to steer others’ perceptions of the self, fostering an idealized public self-image within an interaction [23]. It is essential to consider IM through a transactional lens. IM presupposes two parties in a social exchange; an ‘actor’ performs a social persona that adheres to the expectations and values of an immediate ‘audience’ (e.g., playing up one’s competence during a job interview). This exchange is multifaceted and encompasses a variety

Motivations underlying impression management/camouflaging

Conventionally, IM is used to enhance one’s prospects at achieving interpersonal goals [20] or pragmatic rewards (e.g., success during interviews) [43]. Beyond conventional pursuits, we highlight two relation-oriented IM goals that overlap in autistic and neurotypical populations: mitigating thwarted belonging and stigmatized identities.

Social acceptance and belonging needs are core IM motives [20,44]. The emotional pain and stress following threats of social exclusion [45] initiate social

Mechanisms of impression management/camouflaging: a computational account

We consider IM under a predictive coding framework, applying an iterative processing approach that captures the dynamic, context-dependent, and transactional nature of IM [10,14,18]. Our approach provides a general computational account of IM mechanisms across human populations while also emphasizing the unique computational challenges faced by autistic people.

Consequences of impression management/camouflaging

IM serves important social functions across formal and interpersonal contexts. In many instances, however, it comes with costs to psychological wellbeing. The suppression of internal affective states at the workplace (i.e., ‘surface acting’ in emotional labor) is linked to higher feelings of inauthenticity, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion/burnout [98]. Moreover, IM is consummatory [99]; persistent demands on cognitive resources lead to reduced physical stamina, intellectual acuity,

Concluding remarks

Our transactional IM framework and computational account offer empirically testable predictions for future investigations. Autistic camouflaging should be conceptualized as IM, with shared underlying constructs and computational mechanisms across humans. Yet, unique contextual, mechanistic, and outcome features exist in autistic IM experiences. Navigating neurotypical contexts comes with distinct challenges for autistic people in decoding social discourses and managing impressions accordingly.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Tim (Wei-Ting) Chao, Suraiya Allidina, Rebekah Gelpí, Iciar Iturmendi Sabater, and Lucy Livingston for invaluable discussions and thoughtful feedback related to the conceptualization and writing of this manuscript. This work is supported by the Academic Scholars Award from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Sex and Gender Science Chair (GSB 171373).

Declaration of interests

We have no conflict of interests to disclose.

Glossary

Bayesian theory of mind (BToM)
a process of rational probabilistic inference, whereby an observer integrates their existing beliefs of an agent’s mental states and observable behaviors to causally explain, and continuously update, the agent’s unobservable internal states (e.g., goals or desires).
Camouflaging
verbal and nonverbal strategies neurodivergent/autistic people employ to model neurotypical behaviors, thereby minimizing the visibility of differences, facilitating social connections and

References (130)

  • O. FeldmanHall et al.

    The computational challenge of social learning

    Trends Cogn. Sci.

    (2021)
  • N. Wheeler

    Ideology and predictive processing: coordination, bias, and polarization in socially constrained error minimization

    Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci.

    (2020)
  • W.A. Cunningham et al.

    Attitudes and evaluations: a social cognitive neuroscience perspective

    Trends Cogn. Sci.

    (2007)
  • S.G. Shamay-Tsoory

    Herding brains: a core neural mechanism for social alignment

    Trends Cogn. Sci.

    (2019)
  • M. Kim

    The psychology of motivated versus rational impression updating

    Trends Cogn. Sci.

    (2020)
  • K. Friston

    World model learning and inference

    Neural Netw.

    (2021)
  • E. Stark

    ‘Uncertainty attunement’ has explanatory value in understanding autistic anxiety

    Trends Cogn. Sci.

    (2021)
  • E. Fombonne

    Camouflage and autism

    J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry

    (2020)
  • M.-C. Lai

    Commentary: ‘Camouflaging’ in autistic people – reflection on Fombonne (2020)

    J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry

    (2021)
  • E.J. Libsack

    A systematic review of passing as non-autistic in autism spectrum disorder

    Clin. Child. Fam. Psychol. Rev.

    (2021)
  • L.H. Willey

    Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder) Expanded Edition

    (2014)
  • S. Kopp et al.

    Girls with social deficits and learning problems: autism, atypical Asperger syndrome or a variant of these conditions

    Eur. Child. Adolesc. Psychiatry

    (1992)
  • J. Gould et al.

    Missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis? Girls and women on the autism spectrum

    Good Autism Pract.

    (2011)
  • L. Hull

    ‘Putting on my best normal’: social camouflaging in adults with autism spectrum conditions

    J. Autism Dev. Disord.

    (2017)
  • J. Cook

    Camouflaging in an everyday social context: an interpersonal recall study

    Autism

    (2021)
  • L. Hull

    Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?

    Mol. Autism

    (2021)
  • L. Bradley

    Autistic adults’ experiences of camouflaging and its perceived impact on mental health

    Autism Adulthood

    (2021)
  • C.J. Bernardin

    Associations between social camouflaging and internalizing symptoms in autistic and non-autistic adolescents

    Autism

    (2021)
  • E. Cage et al.

    Understanding the reasons, contexts and costs of camouflaging for autistic adults

    J. Autism Dev. Disord.

    (2019)
  • C.J. Bernardin

    ‘You must become a chameleon to survive’: adolescent experiences of camouflaging

    J. Autism Dev. Disord.

    (2021)
  • J. Halsall

    ‘Camouflaging’ by adolescent autistic girls who attend both mainstream and specialist resource classes: perspectives of girls, their mothers and their educators

    Autism

    (2021)
  • D. Miller

    ‘Masking is life’: experiences of masking in autistic and nonautistic adults

    Autism Adulthood

    (2021)
  • Z.J. Williams

    Commentary: The construct validity of ‘camouflaging’ in autism: psychometric considerations and recommendations for future research - reflection on Lai et al. (2020)

    J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry

    (2021)
  • M.R. Leary

    The self we know and the self we show: self-esteem, self-presentation, and the maintenance of interpersonal relationships

  • M.R. Leary et al.

    Impression management: a literature review and two-component model

    Psychol. Bull.

    (1990)
  • C. Jorgenson

    Social camouflaging in autistic and neurotypical adolescents: a pilot study of differences by sex and diagnosis

    J. Autism Dev. Disord.

    (2020)
  • E. Goffman

    The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

    (1959)
  • L. Hull

    Development and validation of the camouflaging autistic traits questionnaire (CAT-Q)

    J. Autism Dev. Disord.

    (2019)
  • J.E. Pachankis

    Sexual orientation concealment and mental health: a conceptual and meta-analytic review

    Psychol. Bull.

    (2020)
  • S.K. Kang

    Whitened résumés: race and self-presentation in the labor market

    Adm. Sci. Q.

    (2016)
  • S. Bril-Barniv

    A qualitative study examining experiences and dilemmas in concealment and disclosure of people living with serious mental illness

    Qual. Health Res.

    (2017)
  • I.T. Katz

    Impact of HIV-related stigma on treatment adherence: systematic review and meta-synthesis

    J. Int. AIDS Soc.

    (2013)
  • A. Pearson et al.

    A conceptual analysis of autistic masking: understanding the narrative of stigma and the illusion of choice

    Autism Adulthood

    (2021)
  • E. Perry

    Understanding camouflaging as a response to autism-related stigma: a social identity theory approach

    J. Autism Dev. Disord.

    (2021)
  • L.A. Livingston

    Quantifying compensatory strategies in adults with and without diagnosed autism

    Mol. Autism

    (2020)
  • E. Jones et al.

    Toward a general theory of strategic self-presentation

  • J. Cook

    Self-reported camouflaging behaviours used by autistic adults during everyday social interactions

    Autism

    (2021)
  • E. Goffman

    Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity

    (1963)
  • D. Larson et al.

    Self-concealment: conceptualization, measurement, and health implications

    J. Soc. Clin. Psychol.

    (1990)
  • D. Larson

    Self-concealment: integrative review and working model

    J. Soc. Clin. Psychol.

    (2015)
  • Cited by (0)

    @

    Twitter: @mengchuanlai (M.-C. Lai).

    View full text