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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

13/ Huge thanks to all co-authors and collaborators on this project @antoniahamilton.bsky.social @leoschilbach.bsky.social @huanqingwang.bsky.social, three reviewers, and the very helpful and professional NHB editorial team @nathumbehav.nature.com @samanthaantusch.bsky.social

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

12/ Overall, our findings suggest that social functioning in autism is: • hierarchical • developmental • interconnected • dynamic • culturally shaped We hope this framework can help guide precision subtyping, developmentally timed interventions, and neurodiversity-informed research.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

11/ Based on all findings, we propose a hierarchical developmental framework of social functioning in autism. In this model, early differences in social orienting and engagement may reduce opportunities for interactive learning, triggering cascading effects across later-emerging social abilities.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

10/ Among several theoretical models, the best-fitting architecture was a SERIAL / cascading model: Motivation → Motor → Emotion → Inference → Complex social skills This suggests early atypical social motivation may progressively influence downstream social development.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

9/ We then asked: Are different social domains independent from one another? The answer was no. Using meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM), we found stronger cross-domain coupling in autism, especially between emotional and inferential processes.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

8/ Social functioning was also shaped by sociocultural context. Countries with higher social support showed smaller ASC–NT diffs. In contrast, cultures emphasizing masculinity, competition, & rigid social norms showed larger differences. Autism is shaped not only by biology, but also by society.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

7/ Social functioning in autism was also dynamic rather than static. Some abilities improved with age (e.g., imitation, social alignment). Others became more challenging over time, especially those requiring flexible real-time social adaptation (e.g., social regulation, complex communication).

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

6/ We next examined development. The earliest reported group differences followed a striking sequence: social motivation (~6 months) → motor (~12 months) → emotion (~18 months) → inference (~36 months) This mirrors the typical developmental ordering of human social cognition.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

5/ We identified substantial publication and sampling biases across the field. Nearly 70% of autism studies were statistically underpowered. The median ASC sample size was only 22 participants. Some widely used paradigms also showed evidence of inflated effect sizes.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

4/ We also found autism literature is highly method-dependent. Reported differences varied substantially depending on: • surveys vs expts • paradigms • RT vs accuracy • ecological validity Notably, naturalistic/interactive tasks detected larger group differences than tightly controlled lab tasks.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

3/ Across the literature, 75% of studies reported altered social functioning in autistic individuals. Importantly, social difficulties were not random or unitary. They clustered into 5 hierarchical domains: • Motivation-based • Motor-based • Emotion-based • Inference-based • Complex social skills

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

2/ This is the largest meta-analysis of social functioning in autism to date. • 2,622 behavioral studies • 32 countries • 266,961 participants • 22 social functions • 1990–2025 We aimed to build an integrative framework spanning development, methodology, and culture.

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

1/ I’m excited to share our new @NatureHumBehav paper “Social Functioning in Autism: A Systematic Review & Meta-analysis” 🧵We synthesized 35 yrs of autism research to ask a fundamental Question: How is social functioning organized, developed, and altered in autism? Free link: rdcu.be/figGl

rdcu.be

Social functioning in autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Nature Human Behaviour - Impaired social functioning is a core feature of autism spectrum disorders. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes the evidence for this across studies...

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Reposted by Dr. Yin Wang

Hongbo Yu @psyhongbo.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

First article in TICS led by excellent YES Lab member and graduate student @avamadesousa.bsky.social Commentary on a recent cross-cultural work on conceptual representation of social relationships by @bruceyinwang.bsky.social kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me

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Dr. Yin Wang @bruceyinwang.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Our human relationship project has been published in Nature Human Behavior nature.com/articles/s41.... Freely download rdcu.be/edpa2. We also wrote a behind-the-paper blog communities.springernature.com/posts/mappin.... Thanks to all co-authors & helpful editorial team @naturehumbehav.bsky.social

nature.com

The conceptual structure of human relationships across modern and historical cultures - Nature Human Behaviour

Cheng et al. explore the universality and cultural variability in how people understand human relationships, revealing a five-dimensional framework for relationship concepts across both modern and anc...

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Reposted by Dr. Yin Wang

Mark Thornton @markthornton.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

This research was a massive effort, in which I played only a small supporting role (though delighted for the chance to do so!). The leaders were Xi Cheng, @hpopal-brain.bsky.social (who also has fMRI data on this topic!), and Huanqing Wang, with @bruceyinwang.bsky.social shepherding the team.

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