Effectiveness of an Empathic Chatbot in Combating Adverse Effects of Social Exclusion on Mood

Abstract

From past research it is well known that social exclusion has detrimental consequences for mental health. To deal with these adverse effects, socially excluded individuals frequently turn to other humans for emotional support. While chatbots can elicit social and emotional responses on the part of the human interlocutor, their effectiveness in the context of social exclusion has not been investigated. In the present study, we examined whether an empathic chatbot can serve as a buffer against the adverse effects of social ostracism. After experiencing exclusion on social media, participants were randomly assigned to either talk with an empathetic chatbot about it (e.g., "I'm sorry that this happened to you") or a control condition where their responses were merely acknowledged (e.g., "Thank you for your feedback"). Replicating previous research, results revealed that experiences of social exclusion dampened the mood of participants. Interacting with an empathetic chatbot, however, appeared to have a mitigating impact. In particular, participants in the chatbot intervention condition reported higher mood than those in the control condition. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications, as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Perceptions and Opinions of Patients About Mental Health Chatbots: Scoping Review

“…A mental health chatbot must be empathic to be perceived as motivating and engaging and to establish a relationship with the user. A study by de Gennaro [ 76 ] supports this by demonstrating that empathic chatbots have the potential to provide emotional support to victims of social exclusion.…”

When the Social Becomes Non-Human: Young People's Perception of Social Support in Chatbots

“…Social chatbots designed to deliver cognitive-behavioral therapeutic (CBT) have demonstrated efcacy in treating depression and anxiety in young people [56]. Similarly, receiving empathic responses from a chatbot when talking about emotional subjects have been found to have a positive efect on the user's mood [57].…”

“…Previous research on social media has voiced concerns regarding the use of such platforms for information-seeking purposes due to privacy issues [68]. Research on chatbots also indicates a greater level of self-disclosure compared to communicating with humans because chatbots do not experience emotions or make judgments [57].…”

Internet of Things for Mental Health: Open Issues in Data Acquisition, Self-Organization, Service Level Agreement, and Identity Management

“…To illustrate, a patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease may forget about the consent she or he previously provided [94]. However, chatbots and conversational agents have been used to treat patients with mental disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer's and social isolation, providing them with an empathetic and emotional replacement for a human interlocutor [29,30,76]. In such a situation, a legally appointed representative may provide consent.…”

“…For instance, the use of social robots can help reduce the mental fatigue of those people who are in social isolation due to the pandemic. Additionally, the use of telerobots can provide the ability to measure a patient's temperature without any physical interaction [76,122]. However, the potential of IoT for mental health applications has been hardly harnessed.…”