People with autism ‘are actually better at making some kinds of decisions’

People with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) might actually be better at some kinds of decision-making – as a new study showed they make ‘more consistent’ choices.

The researchers found that people with such conditions are better at ‘filtering out’ decoy options when choosing the ‘best’ product among several options.

The research could mean, for instance, that people with autism are less vulnerable to advertising and marketing tricks.

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Researcher George Farmer at the University of Cambridge said, ‘People with autism are indeed more consistent in their choices than the neurotypical population.

‘From an economic perspective, this suggests that people with autism are more rational and less likely to be influenced by the way choices are presented.’

The researchers recruited 90 adults with ASC and 212 neurotypical adults to participate in an online decision-making study – where they chose the ‘best’ product out of three options.

The choices were skewed so a ‘decoy’ product was inserted – which was meant to make people choose a particular product.

Farmer says,,’These findings suggest that people with autism might be less susceptible to having their choices biased by the way information is presented to them – for instance, via marketing tricks when choosing between consumer products.’