Are autistic people as susceptible to herd behavior as NTs?

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I was watching this documentary two months ago called 'Ethos' and it was talking about Edward Bernays and how he was considered the founder of public relations and he was also credited with the idea of consumerism.

Supposedly he regarded humans in crowds as irrational and dangerous as a result of the 'herd instincts' or group intelligence.
And I just wondered are autistic people as susceptible to this herd behavior or instincts as NTs are:?:

Despite that people on the spectrum may not find themselves in crowded situations very often.

Edit
sorry this might of been better under another section

I don't know whether anyone has done any studies on that. And of course, most people think they are not susceptible to herd behavior, so the only way to find out is to actually test it out empirically.

I tend to think I'm not. Here on WP for example, I make plenty of "me too" posts (which would indicate herd mentality) – but there are also cases where I'll admit that I have the opposite experience from most people in the thread (which makes me a special snowflake? Haha I can't win...)

I think the truth of it is that I'm just very straightforward, and not trying to be either a sheep or a snowflake, but just saying how I feel, whether my point of view turns out to be 'popular' or not.

I've seen many threads where people get together and talk "us" vs "other."

No matter what direction the herd is going, I always try to go in the opposite direction. I am NOT a lemming.

My experience?

Even autistics who can communicate with others can show signs of herd mentality. This seems to be online, tho', since I've never been in a live group of people on the spectrum.

In real life, I'd think the problems with person-to-person interaction might make the connections needed for herd mentality (or actions based on it) difficult or impossible. Still might be possible, tho'. High emotion and adrenaline can do interesting things to how people's brains work.

Yes. Autistic people are even prone to forming cliques and gossiping. I know this because I've been to social skills groups. Usually within one or two meetings you can already see small cliques forming. Most autistic people form cliques because of shared special interests, but I still see cliquish behaviors. They often ignore people who aren't part of their clique and occasionally gossip about the most low functioning person in the group.

If propaganda pieces were designed to appeal to the autistic mindset, then many autists could be susceptible to such manipulation. However, I think a lot of us aren't as susceptible in the real world, because such propaganda is meant to appeal to the NT mindset (as NTs are in the majority).

I've seen threads here and on other boards where aspies seem baffled at how commercials/movies/speeches, etc. have little to no effect on them while appearing to move whole groups of (presumably) NT crowds, who seem to almost enjoy the emotional manipulation.

No. Next question?

Have you actually been around groups of Aspies?

Hm, on average I'd say we're more individualistic and less likely to follow a herd, we certainly aren't immune from it though. That and sometimes, going against the grain isn't automatically better than going with the flow, it's something that has to be judged by a case-by-case basis.

Last edited by Jojopa on 21 Feb 2014, 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was in the airport coming back from Florida where I had wacthed the documentary and as I got off the plane and as everyone was going to baggage claim everyone in front of me went to the escalator and I was the only person who took the stairs.

Yes. The ongoing imaginary 'ASD vs NT' war is highly indicative of that.

There are autistics that don't have as strong a herd mentality as others, and there are neurotypicals that don't have as strong a herd mentality as others.

The OP's question was: Are autistic people *as* susceptible to herd behavior as NTs?

He linked this to mass advertising and crowd behaviour.

A group of autistics is never a crowd. A crowd is hundreds and thousands of people, all in one place at the same time, following one or more leader(s).

Even as individuals autistics are not as susceptible to mass advertising. We tend to prefer comfortable clothing over branded clothing, for example.

From this it is clear that autistics are *less* susceptible to herd behaviour than NTs. And that's all the OP asked.

So, the answer is: No.

Herd behaviour can occur in smaller groups of under 20 people as well, though. It will happen in school, where in a single class certain students will flock together based on their interests or attitudes etc.; it also happens at work among co-workers.

I agree with you that autistics will be less susceptible to herd behaviour, but it may still occur, for example in the meet-ups that DevilKisses describes. I have not seen it happen to an extent where it becomes annoying at the ones I've visited, but there were shades of it.

Also, I suppose from your point of view, a simple and concise 'No' is indeed the answer to 'all the OP asked', so I have a question for you in turn: what is the purpose of the addition of 'Next question'? It contradicts the assertion that you merely wished to answer the question posed in the original post and nothing more, and seems to indicate some irritation at the very suggestion that autistics could participate in crowd behaviour.

And there's your interesting choice of words when you say that 'we tend to prefer comfortable clothing over branded clothing'. Call me a radical, but I tend to prefer when people speak for themselves, and not for me. Even though I happen to prefer comfort to branding myself.

Doubt it.

Herd behavior requires empathy and social awareness.

Two things "we" lack (yeah, yeah, you have AS and empathy; good luck with that).