A Polish study published in Evolutionary Psychology suggests that individuals in the general population who score higher on autistic-like traits tend to avoid positive relationship-maintenance behaviours to keep a partner, with attachment styles acting as the main conduit between these traits and relationship dynamics.
“Autistic-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.”
The researchers examined mate retention tactics—behaviours people use to keep a partner and prevent them from leaving. These tactics are typically divided into benefit-provisioning (such as showing affection, giving compliments or gifts, and offering support) and cost-inflicting (such as inducing jealousy, engaging in controlling behaviour, or making threats). They hypothesised that the way a person tries to retain a partner hinges heavily on their attachment style.
Attachment styles describe how people form emotional bonds, generally falling into secure, anxious, or avoidant categories. “People with anxious attachment usually have a strong need for closeness and may react strongly to distance or uncertainty,” Łukasik explained. “In contrast, people with avoidant attachment may feel uncomfortable with emotional closeness and place greater value on independence.”
The study also tethered its analysis to life history theory, an evolutionary framework describing how individuals allocate time and energy to mating and parental efforts. While some prior work suggested ALTs might be linked to a slow reproductive strategy, the researchers emphasised that ALTs are also associated with insecure attachment, which has often been linked to faster strategies. “Research by Marco Del Giudice and colleagues (2010) has suggested that ALTs may be associated with a slow reproductive strategy,” Łukasik noted. “However, higher levels of ALTs are also linked to insecure attachment styles (avoidant and anxious), which have more often been associated with characteristics of a fast strategy.”
To test these ideas, the team recruited 796 Polish adults, 52 per cent of them female, with an average age of 36.4 years. Each participant had been in a romantic relationship for at least three months.
Participants completed a series of established instruments: the Autism-Spectrum Quotient to gauge autistic-like traits, the Experiences in Close Relationships scale to measure anxious and avoidant attachment, and the Mate Retention Inventory to assess the frequency of benefit-provisioning and cost-inflicting behaviours. Brief scales measured mating effort and parental effort. The researchers then employed structural equation modelling to analyse the complex relationships among variables.
The findings show that autistic-like traits are notable predictors of insecure attachment: those with higher ALTs reported greater anxious and avoidant attachment. This suggests that individuals with more of these traits often worry about their partner leaving while simultaneously struggling with emotional closeness.
In terms of mate retention, higher ALTs were associated with a lower likelihood of using benefit-provisioning tactics. They tended to refrain from showering their partners with affection or gifts as a means of maintaining the relationship. Initial statistical models suggested these individuals were also less likely to use cost-inflicting tactics; however, once age was controlled for, a positive link emerged between ALTs and cost-inflicting tactics.
As for life history outcomes, ALTs proved only weak predictors. “The results did not support the hypothesis that ALTs predict a fast rather than a slow reproductive strategy,” Łukasik said. “ALTs were only weakly related to reproductive strategies.” Instead, attachment styles acted as a bridging mechanism between the variables. Anxious attachment was linked to higher mating effort and lower parental effort, predicting use of both positive and negative mate retention tactics. Avoidant attachment showed a similar pattern of higher mating effort and lower parental effort but predicted a lower use of benefit-provisioning tactics.
Age appeared to influence the broader pattern: older participants exhibited lower attachment anxiety, reported lower mating effort, higher parental effort, and decreased use of both types of mate retention tactics. This aligns with the idea that relationship dynamics evolve with age and stability within partnerships.
Notwithstanding, the authors caution that the study relies on cross-sectional data, measuring all variables at a single time point. This design limits conclusions about causality, and self-reported data may be biased by social desirability. They also note that the Autism-Spectrum Quotient might capture elements of social anxiety or general interpersonal difficulty, which could cloud interpretations. The weak link between ALTs and reproductive strategies further suggests that broad evolutionary models like life history theory may not fully capture modern relationship nuances, underscoring the need for refined measurement approaches in future work.
Concluding, the researchers say the findings may illuminate the practical challenges some people face in romance. “These findings may help explain relationship difficulties experienced by individuals with higher levels of autistic-like traits,” Łukasik concluded. “Benefit-provisioning tactics are generally associated with greater relationship satisfaction, whereas cost-inflicting tactics are linked to lower satisfaction and may contribute to difficulties in developing and maintaining stable close relationships.”
The study, “Autistic-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.
