Social influence of humor in virtual human counselor's self‐disclosure

Abstract

We explored the social influence of humor in a virtual human counselor's self‐disclosure while also varying the ethnicity of the virtual counselor. In a 2 × 3 experiment (humor and ethnicity of the virtual human counselor), participants experienced counseling interview interactions via Skype on a smartphone. We measured user responses to and perceptions of the virtual human counselor. The results demonstrate that humor positively affects user responses to and perceptions of a virtual counselor. The results further suggest that matching styles of humor with a virtual counselor's ethnicity influences user responses and perceptions. The results offer insight into the effective design and development of realistic and believable virtual human counselors. Furthermore, they illuminate the potential use of humor to enhance self‐disclosure in human–agent interactions.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 19, 2017
Source ID
10.1002/cav.1763

Entities

People

  • Chien‐yen Chang
  • David M. Krum
  • Ori Amir
  • Peter Khooshabeh
  • Rebecca Lin
  • Sin‐Hwa Kang
  • Thai Phan

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory
  • University of California
  • University of Southern California

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Science in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.