Camouflaging reflects a dynamic interplay between perceived social misfit, executive demands, and identity-related processes rather than a fixed cognitive ability, highlighting the importance of affirming social environments.
Key Findings
Results
An integrative model combining cognitive and psychosocial predictors explained a moderate proportion of variance in camouflaging behavior in autistic adults.
The final model achieved R² = 0.27, indicating 27% of variance in camouflaging was explained.
Model fit was acceptable with a standardized root mean squared residual (SRMSR) = 0.05.
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to estimate individual predictor contributions.
Sample consisted of 120 autistic adults (M = 37.4 years, SD = 10.4), mostly officially diagnosed and predominantly assigned female at birth.
Results
Executive dysfunction showed a positive association with camouflaging in autistic adults.
Higher levels of executive dysfunction were linked to higher camouflaging scores.
Executive functioning was measured via self-report as everyday planning difficulties.
This finding suggests that camouflaging may impose or co-occur with executive demands rather than reflecting a stable cognitive ability.
Results
Perceived social-cognition differences (feeling like a social misfit) were positively associated with camouflaging.
Participants who perceived greater differences in their social cognition relative to neurotypical norms reported higher camouflaging.
This was operationalized as perceived social misfit rather than objective cognitive testing.
The finding supports the view that subjective social experience, not just objective ability, drives camouflaging behavior.
Results
Personal acceptance of one's autistic identity showed a positive association with camouflaging.
Higher personal acceptance of autism was associated with higher, not lower, camouflaging scores.
This counterintuitive finding may reflect identity-related processes where awareness and acceptance of autistic identity co-exists with strategic social adaptation.
Personal acceptance was assessed via self-report measures of autism acceptance.
Results
Intellectual functioning, perceived acceptance by others, and social support did not contribute meaningfully to predicting camouflaging.
Despite being hypothesized predictors, intellectual functioning showed no meaningful association with camouflaging in the final model.
Perceived acceptance from others (external social acceptance) also failed to contribute meaningfully.
Social support similarly did not predict individual differences in camouflaging.
These null findings challenge the assumption that camouflaging is primarily driven by cognitive ability or external social validation.
Methods
The study sample was predominantly assigned female at birth and formally diagnosed with autism.
120 autistic adults participated, with a mean age of 37.4 years (SD = 10.4).
The sample was described as 'mostly officially diagnosed and predominantly assigned female at birth.'
All measures were self-report and administered online.
This sampling characteristic may limit generalizability to autistic individuals assigned male at birth or those without formal diagnoses.
Background
Camouflaging was conceptualized as shaped by psychosocial factors in addition to socio-cognitive abilities, departing from purely cognitive models.
Prior research had focused predominantly on socio-cognitive abilities as drivers of camouflaging.
This study integrated perceived social misfit, mental health, and autism acceptance alongside cognitive measures.
The authors hypothesized that higher camouflaging would be associated with socio-cognitive functioning, perceived social misfit, mental health, and lower autism acceptance.
What This Means
This research suggests that autistic adults who camouflage — hiding their autistic traits to fit into social expectations — are not simply doing so because of their cognitive abilities or intelligence. Instead, a study of 120 autistic adults found that camouflaging was most strongly linked to difficulties with everyday planning and organization (executive dysfunction), feeling like a social misfit compared to non-autistic people, and how strongly someone personally identifies with and accepts their autistic identity. Notably, general intelligence, social support networks, and feeling accepted by others as autistic were not meaningfully related to how much someone camouflaged.
This research suggests that camouflaging is a complex behavior shaped by both internal experiences — like how a person perceives their own social differences and their relationship with their autistic identity — and functional demands like executive processing. The finding that personal autism acceptance was positively (not negatively) linked to camouflaging points to nuanced identity dynamics that warrant further investigation. The model explained about 27% of the variation in camouflaging, indicating these factors are meaningful but that other influences also play a role.
The practical implication of these findings is that reducing harmful camouflaging may require more than improving social skills or cognitive support. This research suggests that creating genuinely accepting social environments and supporting positive autistic identity development could be important in reducing the pressure autistic people feel to hide who they are — and by extension, may help protect their mental health and well-being.
Rebours C, Kostrubiec V, Kruck J. (2026). Understanding Social Camouflaging in Autistic Adults: Integrating Cognitive and Psychosocial Predictors.. Autism : the international journal of research and practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261433985