Cloudfindings

Characterizing Repetitive Behaviors & Interests Specific to Autism: The Autistic Interests Scale Introduction Autism is a phenotype which is well known to be characterized in part by repetitive, stereotyped, restricted behavior and interests (e.g., Baron-Cohen et al. 2001; Mirenda et al. 2010). While repetitive behavior is an aspect of the autism phenotype, repetitive behavior in general is largely not specific to autism, and aspects such as intense investment in interests and fidgeting are often present in schizotypy (Jones et al. 2015), borderline personality (Dell’Osso et al. 2018), and OCD (Cloudfindings 2021a). This can make the identification of repetitive behavior caused by an autism spectrum disorder as opposed to a different disorder difficult, and may confound the measurement of autistic traits with repetitive behavior caused by other phenotypes, as has been the case with measuring social deficits in autism (Cloudfindings 2021b, 2022a)(Crespi 2021)(Del Giudice et al. 2014...

Degree of Authoritarianism Across 56 Countries is Predicted by the Average Personalities of Their Populations Using data on average big 5 personality traits in 56 countries from Schmitt et al. (2007), I tested the hypothesis that the higher order personality traits stability (made up of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability) and plasticity (openness and extraversion) (e.g. Wang et al. 2013) would emerge via factor analysis. I then tested the hypothesis that the degree of civil liberties across these countries (as scored by freedomhouse.org) would be predicted by the average scores on stability and plasticity in the populations of these countries. Both hypotheses were supported, and up to 73% of differences in authoritarianism across these countries was explained by the average scores on stability and plasticity in these countries.  Hypothesis 1 Stability Plasticity Agreeableness 0.81 0.14 Conscientiousness 0.87 0.10 Neuroticism -0.80 -0.20 Openness 0.02 0.86 Ext...