A recent study suggests that people in the general population who possess higher levels of autism-like traits tend to avoid positive, affectionate behaviors to maintain their romantic relationships. The research, published in Evolutionary psychologyindicates that these traits influence relationship dynamics largely through a person’s attachment style rather than broad evolutionary reproductive strategies.
The research was led by Andrzej Łukasik, habilitation doctor and head of the psychology department at Collegium Medicum at the University of Rzeszow in Poland, which aimed to explore how subtle personality traits shape romantic behavior from an evolutionary perspective. The central focus of the study is autism-like traits, which refer to patterns of social functioning, communication difficulties and rigid thinking. “Autism-like traits (ALTs) are personality, social, and cognitive characteristics associated with autism that can also occur, to varying degrees, in the general population,” Łukasik told PsyPost. “They are not considered a disorder.”
To understand how these traits impact relationships, scientists have studied mate retention tactics. These are behaviors that people use to keep a partner and keep them from leaving. Mate loyalty is generally divided into what Lukasik described as “tactics aimed at providing benefits, such as showing affection, giving compliments or gifts, and offering support, and tactics that generate costs, such as instigating jealousy, engaging in controlling behavior, or making threats.” The authors suspect that how a person tries to keep a partner depends heavily on their attachment style.
Attachment styles describe how people form emotional bonds, typically falling into secure, anxious, or avoidant categories. “People with anxious attachment generally have a strong need for closeness and can react strongly to distance or uncertainty,” explained Łukasik. “In contrast, people with avoidant attachment may feel uncomfortable with emotional closeness and place a greater value on independence.” In fact, a 2016 study found that insecure attachment predicts how often people use various mate retention behaviors, and a study covered by PsyPost in 2021 indicated that insecure attachment is linked to both positive and negative mate retention strategies.
The researchers also structured their study around life history theory, an evolving concept describing how individuals allocate their limited time and energy. In this context, people adopt various reproductive strategies. A rapid strategy involves high mating effort, characterized by the search for multiple partners and short-term relationships. A slow strategy involves high parental effort, prioritizing stable, long-term investments in a single partner and their offspring.
Previous evolutionary theories proposed that autistic-like traits may be an adaptation linked to a slow reproductive strategy. However, because these traits are also associated with insecure attachment, which generally corresponds to a rapid strategy, the authors designed this study to test the link between all of these factors. “Research by Marco Del Giudice and colleagues (2010) suggests that ALT may be associated with a slow reproductive strategy,” noted Łukasik. “However, higher levels of ALT are also linked to insecure attachment styles (avoidant and anxious), which have more often been associated with characteristics of a fast strategy.”
Therefore, researchers examined whether ALT could actually predict fast strategy and whether attachment style moderated this relationship. To map these links, the scientists recruited 796 Polish adults. Participants were 52 percent female and had an average age of 36.4 years. Each participant had been in a romantic relationship for at least three months.
The researchers administered a series of established questionnaires. They used the Autism Spectrum Quotient to measure the degree of autism-like traits, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale to assess anxious and avoidant attachment, and the Mate Retention Inventory to assess the frequency of benefit-producing and cost-producing behaviors. They also used brief scales to measure mating effort and parental effort. The team then used a statistical technique called structural equation modeling to simultaneously analyze the complex web of relationships between all of these variables.
The results suggest that autistic-like traits are notable predictors of insecure attachment. Participants who scored higher on autism-like traits reported higher levels of anxious and avoidant attachment styles. This indicates that people with more of these characteristics often worry about their partner leaving while simultaneously struggling with emotional closeness.
When examining mate retention, researchers found that individuals with higher autistic-like traits were less likely to engage in benefit-granting tactics. They tended to avoid showering their partner with affection or gifts in order to maintain the relationship. Initial statistical models suggested that these individuals were also less likely to use cost-generating tactics. However, when the scientists controlled for participants’ ages, they found a positive link between autistic-like traits and costly tactics.
Age acts as a masking variable, as older people naturally tend to use fewer negative tactics. Once age is taken into account, the data suggests that people with higher autistic-like traits might actually use costly tactics a little more often.
In terms of evolutionary strategies, autistic-like traits have been shown to be poor predictors of life history outcomes. “The results do not support the hypothesis that ALT predicts a fast rather than a slow reproductive strategy,” said Łukasik. “ALT was only weakly linked to reproductive strategies.” Instead, attachment styles served as a bridge between variables.
Anxious attachment was linked to higher mating effort and lower parental effort, and predicted the use of both positive and negative mate retention tactics. Avoidant attachment was also related to higher mating effort and lower parental effort, but it predicted less use of benefit-seeking tactics. “Individuals with an anxious attachment style tend to use a mixed partner retention strategy involving both attraction and distance, probably due to an overperception of the risk of infidelity,” Łukasik pointed out. “In contrast, individuals with an avoidant attachment style tend to use benefit-granting tactics less often, perhaps because such tactics allow them to avoid closeness to their partner and maintain distance from their partner.”
Age played an important role in the entire study. The scientists found that as participants got older, their levels of attachment anxiety decreased. Older participants also reported lower mating effort, higher parental effort, and reduced use of both types of mate retention tactics. This is consistent with the idea that as people age and their relationships stabilize, they shift their energy away from finding a partner and toward investing in their existing family.
As with any research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study used cross-sectional data, meaning the researchers measured all variables at one point in time. This design makes it impossible to determine the true direction of effects, and it cannot be assumed that autistic-like traits cause specific attachment styles or relationship behaviors. Additionally, participants self-reported their behaviors, which can introduce bias if people change their responses to appear more socially acceptable.
The researchers also note that the autism spectrum quotient might measure elements of social anxiety or general interpersonal difficulties rather than pure autistic traits. This overlap could distort the interpretation of the results. The weak link between autism-like traits and reproductive strategies also suggests that broad evolutionary models such as life history theory may not fully capture the nuances of modern human relationships, highlighting the need for different measurement approaches in future studies.
Ultimately, the findings offer insight into the practical challenges some people face when it comes to romance. “These findings may help explain the relationship difficulties experienced by people with higher levels of autism-like traits,” Łukasik concluded. “Benefit-granting tactics are generally associated with greater relationship satisfaction, while cost-generating tactics are linked to less satisfaction and may contribute to difficulties in developing and maintaining stable close relationships.”
The study titled “Autism-like traits in members of the general population and mate retention tactics: the mediation of attachment styles and reproductive strategies” was authored by Andrzej Łukasik and Agnieszka Łaba-Hornecka.
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