How personification and interactivity influence stress-related disclosures to conversational agents

Abstract

In this exploratory study, we examine how personification and interactivity may influence people’s disclosures around sensitive topics, such as psychological stressors. Participants (N=441) shared a recent stressful experience with one of three agent interfaces: 1) a non-interactive, non-personified survey, 2) an interactive, non-personified chatbot, and 3) an interactive, personified chatbot. We coded these responses to examine how agent type influenced the nature of the stressor disclosed, and the intimacy and amount of disclosure. Participants discussed fewer homelife related stressors, but more finance-related stressors and more chronic stressors overall with the personified chatbot than the other two agents. The personified chatbot was also twice as likely as the other agents to receive disclosures that contained very little detail. We discuss the role played by personification and interactivity in interactions with conversational agents, and implications for design.