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.
It makes sense because people on the spectrum can have injustice sensitivity and difficulties with social norms. It makes sense that they ignore the bystander effect because it’s something similar to a combination of ignoring the social norm of doing nothing because everybody else is doing nothing and trying to stop the injustice of something bad from happening.