---
abstract: 'There has been a widely held belief that people with autism spectrum disorders lack empathy. This article examines the empathy imbalance hypothesis (EIH) of autism. According to this account, people with autism have a deficit of cognitive empathy but a surfeit of emotional empathy. The behavioral characteristics of autism might be generated by this imbalance and a susceptibility to empathic overarousal. The EIH builds on the theory of mind account and provides an alternative to the extreme-male-brain theory of autism. Empathy surfeit is a recurrent theme in autistic narratives, and empirical evidence for the EIH is growing. A modification of the pictorial emotional Stroop paradigm could facilitate an experimental test of the EIH.'
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contact_email: ~
creators_id:
  - adamjamessmith@fsmail.net
creators_name:
  - family: Smith
    given: A
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
date: 2009
date_type: published
datestamp: 2010-04-01 19:26:42
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/67/99
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editors_id: []
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eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 6799
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/6799/1/TPRVol59No3%2DSMITH.pdf
full_text_status: public
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ispublished: pub
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item_issues_comment: []
item_issues_count: 0
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keywords: autism; empathy; theory of mind
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:57:35
latitude: ~
longitude: ~
metadata_visibility: show
note: ~
number: ~
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pubdom: TRUE
publication: The Psychological Record
publisher: ~
refereed: TRUE
referencetext: ~
relation_type: []
relation_uri: []
reportno: ~
rev_number: 28
series: ~
source: ~
status_changed: 2010-04-01 19:26:41
subjects:
  - dev-psy
  - evol-psy
succeeds: ~
suggestions: ~
sword_depositor: ~
sword_slug: ~
thesistype: ~
title: 'The Empathy Imbalance Hypothesis of Autism: A Theoretical Approach to Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Autistic Development'
type: journalp
userid: 10021
volume: ~
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