First, people with higher scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (items included "I am fascinated by numbers," and "I find social situations [difficult]") had weaker belief in a personal God. Second, reduced ability to mentalize mediated this correlation. (Mentalizing was measured with the Empathy Quotient, which assesses self-reported ability to recognize and react to others' emotions, and with a task that requires identifying what's being expressed in pictures of eyes. Systematizing -- interest in and aptitude for mechanical and abstract systems -- was correlated with autism but was not a mediator.) Third, men were much less likely than women to say they strongly believed in a personal God (even controlling for autism), and this correlation was also mediated by reduced mentalizing.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-hutson/autism-atheism_b_1557098.html Are People With Autism More Likely to Be Atheists?] by Matthew Hutson, Huffington Post</ref>}} | First, people with higher scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (items included "I am fascinated by numbers," and "I find social situations [difficult]") had weaker belief in a personal God. Second, reduced ability to mentalize mediated this correlation. (Mentalizing was measured with the Empathy Quotient, which assesses self-reported ability to recognize and react to others' emotions, and with a task that requires identifying what's being expressed in pictures of eyes. Systematizing -- interest in and aptitude for mechanical and abstract systems -- was correlated with autism but was not a mediator.) Third, men were much less likely than women to say they strongly believed in a personal God (even controlling for autism), and this correlation was also mediated by reduced mentalizing.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-hutson/autism-atheism_b_1557098.html Are People With Autism More Likely to Be Atheists?] by Matthew Hutson, Huffington Post</ref>}} |