Autism, empathy and psychopaths
Autistic people have been thought to all lack empathy by both science and society for decades. But after receiving an extremely low empathy score as part of a recent autism assessment, science journalist Sue Nelson decided to confront these damaging stereotypes and question the experts who work in this area. Sue’s investigation reveals latest research shows the opposite of the commonly held stereotype. Instead of the majority of autistic people having low to no empathy, a trait commonly associated with psychopaths, many autistic people have been shown to have heightened empathy for others. Guests include Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a pioneer in the field who originated the EQ (Empathy Quotient) test widely used in autism assessments, and a team of autistic researchers investigating the newly recognised phenomenon of autistic ‘hyper-empathy’.
The Documentary Podcast
A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues.
From Trump’s new world order, to protests in Turkey, to the headphone revolution, The Documentary investigates major global stories.
We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world’s most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week, we also bring together people from around the globe to discuss how news stories are affecting their lives.
A new episode most days, all year round. From our BBC World Service teams at: Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio, OS Conversations, The Fifth Floor and Trending.
- No. of episodes: 2,000
- Latest episode: 2025-05-18
- Society & Culture Documentary
Where can you listen?
