Interpersonal Adjustment as An Account for Communication Challenges Among Individuals with High and Low Autistic Traits

Double Empathy Problem (DEP) proposes that communication breakdowns across different neurotypes arise from reciprocal mismatches, challenging the traditional pathological model of social difficulties in autism. Despite its conceptual appeal, DEP lacks formalization for empirical testing. Drawing on a constructivist view of communication, we operationalized DEP by distinguishing between global interpersonal autistic-trait differences and local dynamic interpersonal adjustment. 152 participants formed low-low, low-high, and high-high autistic-trait dyads. In a real-time conceptual coordination task, dyads developed novel signaling systems to coordinate target choices. Mixed-trait dyads exhibited reduced interpersonal adjustment, greater signaling variability, and more heterogeneous adjustment dynamics than matched-trait dyads. Interpersonal adjustment promoted communication outcomes and mediated the relationship between autistic-trait disparity and communicative outcomes. These findings suggest that autistic-trait differences may initially hinder coordination but can be attenuated through accommodate mental states towards each other. Integrating global and local processes advances theoretical precision of DEP and provides a foundation for future mechanistic investigation of neurodiverse communication and inclusive social practices.