A well-established psychological theory states that most of us are less likely to intervene in a bad situation if other people are present, and this 'bystander effect' also applies to workplace settings. However, new research shows that people with autism are less likely to be affected by this social contagion than neurotypical people. They are less likely to stay silent in the face of gross misconduct or even just everyday mistakes, pointing to the positive aspects of autism and how organizations can benefit from hiring more neurodivergent people, findings reveal.
That’s an interesting line of thought. A fair number of the things we see around us that we end up hating are the results of people, for whatever reason, adjusting their behavior to be more in line with other people and social pressures, like professional, peer, parental, etc.
Bystander effect is a great example, you don’t have to get involved if nobody else is, you have safety in numbers. You’re adapting to be more like the rest of your community.
Anyways though, people with autism struggle with that whole adaptation thing, which is often seen as a harmful mal-adaptation.
Is it really though? Is people’s herd behavior really all that great? Maybe one of the reasons we kinda mistreat these people is they sometimes seem free of something we wish we could be free of.
It depends on the herd.