Imagined Contact Improves Intentions towards a Hypothetical Peer with Asperger Syndrome but not Attitudes towards Peers with Asperger Syndrome in General

Abstract

The aim of this study is twofold. First, to investigate whether the imagined contact method (an indirect method of contact) can improve behavioural intentions towards a hypothetical peer with Asperger syndrome (AS). Second, to test whether the effect of the method can be generalised on attitudes towards young people with AS in general.Participants were 416 young adolescents (M age= 15.2) who view a power-point presentation introducing a hypothetical male target with AS. A voice-over provided either descriptive or combined (descriptive plus explanatory) information about AS. Next, imagined contact participants were asked to imagine an encounter with the target boy while control participants were asked to simple think about him. Behavioural intentions towards the target were assessed by the Shared Activities Questionnaire while attitudes towards young people with AS in general were assessed by the Asperger Syndrome Questionnaire, a self-generated instrument. Results revealed that imagined contact compared to control participants exhibited greater behavioural intentions towards the target. However, no effect of the imagined contact method was observed on attitudes towards young people with AS in general. Combined information about AS had only a moderate effect. Implications and study limitations are discussed.