Do We Feel the Same? Understanding Neurodivergent Emotion Perception: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Alexithymia In Autistic Adults

We will compare autistic and non-autistic adults (N=400) on alexithymia, interoception, masking, and autistic traits using validated self-report measures and qualitative interviews. We aim to determine whether alexithymia reflects the same construct across groups. We expect evidence for distinct emotional perception and emotion processing pathways in autistic adults.