Factors underlying cross-cultural differences in stigma toward autism among college students in Lebanon and the United States.
Teaching facts and sharing friendly stories about autistic people cuts stigma among college students in two cultures.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gillespie-Lynch et al. (2019) asked college students in Lebanon and the United States to fill out an online survey.
The survey measured how much they stigmatize autism, how much they know about it, and how much contact they have had with autistic people.
What they found
Women and US students showed lower stigma.
Students who knew more facts, had friendly contact, were open-minded, and disliked inequality also showed less stigma.
How this fits with other research
Mazouffre et al. (2026) repeated the same idea in France and got the same pattern: more knowledge links to less stigma.
Block et al. (2026) stretched the idea further. They showed that culture also changes how people rate autistic traits, not just how much they stigmatize.
Qi et al. (2016) looked earlier at Macau students. They found culture shapes what people blame for autism, laying groundwork for the stigma work.
Why it matters
When you train staff or run parent nights, add short facts and share positive stories about autistic clients.
The study says this mix lowers stigma in young adults from very different cultures, so it will probably work in your town too.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add one true fact and one upbeat client story to your next staff in-service.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although stigma negatively impacts autistic people globally, the degree of stigma varies across cultures. Prior research suggests that stigma may be higher in cultures with more collectivistic orientations. This study aimed to identify cultural values and other individual differences that contribute to cross-cultural differences in autism stigma (assessed with a social distance scale) between college students in Lebanon (n = 556) and those in the United States (n = 520). Replicating prior work, stigma was lower in women than men and in the United States relative to Lebanon. Heightened autism knowledge, quality of contact with autistic people, openness to experience, and reduced acceptance of inequality predicted lower stigma. Collectivism was not associated with heightened stigma. Findings highlight the need to address structural inequalities, combat harmful misconceptions, and foster positive contact to combat stigma.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2019 · doi:10.1177/1362361318823550