Social Robots Outdo the Not-So-Social Media for Self-Disclosure: Safe Machines Preferred to Unsafe Humans?

Social Robots Outdo the Not-So-Social Media for Self-Disclosure: Safe Machines Preferred to Unsafe Humans?

COVID-19 may not be a ‘youth disease’ but it nevertheless impacts the life of young people dramatically, loneliness and a negative mood being an unexpected additional pandemic. Many young people rely on social media for their feeling of connectedness with others. However, social media is suggested t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Robotics (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 92
Main Authors: Luo, Rowling L, Zhang, Thea X. Y, Chen, Derrick H.-C, Hoorn, Johan F, Huang, Ivy S
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2022
Subjects:
Analysis
anthropomorphic design
Anxiety
Artificial intelligence
Chatbots
Coping (Psychology)
COVID-19
Digital media
Emotions
intervention design
negative mood
Robots
self-disclosure
Smart buildings
Social aspects
Social media
Social networks
social robots
Stress (Psychology)
Young adults
China
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Summary:COVID-19 may not be a ‘youth disease’ but it nevertheless impacts the life of young people dramatically, loneliness and a negative mood being an unexpected additional pandemic. Many young people rely on social media for their feeling of connectedness with others. However, social media is suggested to have many negative effects on people’s anxiety. Instead of self-disclosing to others, design may develop alternatives to employ social robots for self-disclosure. In a follow-up on earlier work, we report on a lab experiment of self-disclosing negative emotions to a social media group as compared to writing a conventional diary journal or to talking to an AI-driven social robot after negative mood induction (i.e., viewing shocking earthquake footage). Participants benefitted the most from talking to a robot rather than from writing a journal page or sharing their feelings on social media. Self-disclosure on social media or writing a journal page did not differ significantly. In the design of interventions for mental well-being, human helpers thus far took center stage. Based on our results, we propose design alternatives for an empathic smart home, featuring social robots and chatbots for alleviating stress and anxiety: a social-media interference chatbot, smart watch plus speaker, and a mirror for self-reflection.
ISSN:2218-6581
2218-6581
DOI:10.3390/robotics11050092