Is Michael Scott autistic?
Michael Scott is a fictional character portrayed by Steve Carrell on the NBC television series The Office. He is the regional manager of paper company Dunder-Mifflin. There has been speculation that he may be on the autism spectrum, due to his idiosyncratic way of managing his staff, his poor social skills, and his lack of empathy. Many of the laughs on the show are due to misunderstandings caused by Michael’s inability to see situations from another’s point of view. He also has a strong need to be in control. It is possible that Michael Scott is on the autism spectrum.
No, he’s not.
He has Narcistic Personality Disorder probably. Often confused with autism because of some of the same characteristics.
Look again at the Office and you will notice that he constantly wants to be in the center of attention and he’s bragging about stuff he’s not even good at. He also lacks responsibility. He keeps hurting everyone around him and the doesn’t even care.
That’s why he is a good salesman. He’s not neccesarely socially akward, he can be very social. But his narcissism affects him.
No, he’s not autistic at all. A loner with NPD.
I’m assuming you haven’t heard of the autistic profile PDA. Michael has issues with textures (as he called it soft teeth) I actually have seen the office completely at least 10 times. He is clearly literal, doesn’t get tone of voice etc he checks a bunch of boxes that doesn’t mean this fictional character doesn’t have other things but he is clearly neurodivergent. Just look at all the stim toys he has on his desk.
Also some people with adhd and/or autism tend to develop a need to be liked because they had a hard time fitting in and they know it but because of lacking social skills it can come off exactly like Michael’s.
“With Asperger’s and NPD, a lot of the criteria overlap. The difference is that while all people with Aspergers are narcissistic (not NPD, but self-centered; it’s a central trait), all people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are definitely not aspergers, and can be the total opposite: super smooth and charming.”
from Dr. Psychmom
As a social worker who often works with individuals who fall within “the spectrum”, i can confidently state that Michael resembles one of these clients very closely.
My client is unique in that he is both on the spectrum and a trust-fund-baby/heir. His wealth/perceived power (due to his wealth and hyper-conservative views) has seemingly affected his autism in a way that has left him with personality traits nearly identical to Michael’s. In that way, i would state that the previous poster is only partially correct. I believe that Michael, like my client, is diagnostically on the spectrum and that his unique position in the workplace (and the circumstances which led to him maintaining this job for a significant amount of time) has caused his spectrum disorder to appear more akin to Narcissistic Personality Disorder than it normally would have. It should be noted that in the real world, someone like Michael would have been fired within minutes of his promotion to manager or never been promoted to begin with.
I truly believe that only in rare situations,
(such as the one with my wealthy client who inherited all of his money and created a meaningless organization in order to financially pressure economically disadvantaged individuals into interacting with him) could actually result in an individual like Michael Scott.
P.S. I’ve had experience with folks diagnosed with NPD when i was employed at a Dual-Diagnosis Center. They were drastically different to Michael Scott in that most of them were not socially inept and at least able to pass themselves off as somewhat “normal” with regards to their interactions. Although i have only one client who absolutely matches Michael Scott, he reminds me more of the autistic individuals that i have worked with then the narcissistic individuals that i have worked with.