The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
"I Hear You, I Feel You": Encouraging Deep Self-disclosure through a Chatbot
Abstract
Chatbots have great potential to serve as a low-cost, effective tool to support people's self-disclosure. Prior work has shown that reciprocity occurs in human-machine dialog; however, whether reciprocity can be leveraged to promote and sustain deep self-disclosure over time has not been systematically studied. In this work, we design, implement and evaluate a chatbot that has self-disclosure features when it performs small talk with people. We ran a study with 47 participants and divided them into three groups to use different chatting styles of the chatbot for three weeks. We found that chatbot self-disclosure had a reciprocal effect on promoting deeper participant self-disclosure that lasted over the study period, in which the other chat styles without self-disclosure features failed to deliver. Chatbot self-disclosure also had a positive effect on improving participants' perceived intimacy and enjoyment over the study period. Finally, we reflect on the design implications of chatbots where deep self-disclosure is needed over time.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Trust is an important aspect of relationship building and self-disclosure, both with machines and humans (Lee et al., 2020).”
From My Chatbot Companion - a Study of Human-Chatbot Relationships (2021) · cites this paper as Lee et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“Previous research has shown that a chatbot's level of reciprocity can influence users' willingness to self-disclose as well as the perceived level of intimacy and enjoyment (Lee et al., 2020).”
From My Chatbot Companion - a Study of Human-Chatbot Relationships (2021) · cites this paper as Lee et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“However, contrary findings have also been identified as some studies show evidence that people respond well and disclose more personal information if the chatbot is presented as a bot and can also display emotions [60,61].”
Citations
Cites
The Psychological Meaning of Words: LIWC and Computerized Text Analysis Methods
Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010) · Journal of Language and Social Psychology · doi:10.1177/0261927x09351676 · Cited by 5,774
ELIZA—a computer program for the study of natural language communication between man and machine
Weizenbaum, J. (1966) · Communications of the ACM · doi:10.1145/365153.365168 · Cited by 4,452
(1973) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 2,836
Fitzpatrick, K. K., Darcy, A., & Vierhile, M. (2017) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.7785 · Cited by 2,730 · cited 1×
“further utilized a therapy chatbot “Woebot” in their study to explore its feasibility to help release students’ mental illness and showed the chatbot could help relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression [17].”
MethodNass, C., Steuer, J., & Tauber, E. R. (1994) · Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/191666.191703 · Cited by 2,148
Mental health problems and help-seeking behavior among college students
Hunt, J., & Eisenberg, D. (2010) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.08.008 · Cited by 1,949
It's only a computer: virtual humans increase willingness to disclose
Lucas, G. M., Gratch, J., King, A., & Morency, L.-P. (2014) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.043 · Cited by 977 · cited 1×
“, during interviews, which can render them more willing to self-disclose [33, 32].”
BackgroundProchaska, J. J., Sung, H., Max, W., Shi, Y., & Ong, M. (2012) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.1349 · Cited by 942
The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings
Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, R. D., & Bator, R. J. (1997) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167297234003 · Cited by 902 · cited 1×
“For conversational topics, two topics were randomly picked from [2] for each day.”
BackgroundThe Relationship Closeness Inventory: Assessing the closeness of interpersonal relationships.
Berscheid, E., Snyder, M., & Omoto, A. M. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.5.792 · Cited by 899
Intimate Exchanges: Using Computers to Elicit Self-Disclosure from Consumers
Moon, Y. (2000) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/209566 · Cited by 842
Some factors in self-disclosure.
Jourard, S. M., & Lasakow, P. (1958) · Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0043357 · Cited by 837
Mental Health Discourse on reddit: Self-Disclosure, Social Support, and Anonymity
De Choudhury, M., & De, S. (2014) · Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media · doi:10.1609/icwsm.v8i1.14526 · Cited by 836
Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia
Lauber, C., & Wulf Rössler, A. (2007) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540260701278903 · Cited by 510
THE MEASUREMENT OF TRUST AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SELF-DISCLOSURE
Wheeless, L. R., & Grotz, J. (1977) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1977.tb00523.x · Cited by 475
What Makes a Good Conversation?: Challenges in Designing Truly Conversational Agents
Clark, L., Pantidi, N., Cooney, O., Doyle, P., Garaialde, D., Edwards, J., Spillane, B., Gilmartin, E., Murad, C., Munteanu, C., et al. (2019) · Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300705 · Cited by 461
Lee, S., & Choi, J. (2017) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.02.005 · Cited by 388
Degree and Reciprocity of Self-Disclosure in Online Forums
Barak, A., & Gluck-Ofri, O. (2007) · CyberPsychology & Behavior · doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9938 · Cited by 386
Journaling about stressful events: Effects of cognitive processing and emotional expression
Ullrich, P. M., & Lutgendorf, S. K. (2002) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2403_10 · Cited by 379
Gratitude as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention
Emmons, R. A., & Stern, R. (2013) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22020 · Cited by 362
Reporting Mental Health Symptoms: Breaking Down Barriers to Care with Virtual Human Interviewers
Lucas, G. M., Rizzo, A., Gratch, J., Scherer, S., Stratou, G., Boberg, J., & Morency, L.-P. (2017) · Frontiers in Robotics and AI · doi:10.3389/frobt.2017.00051 · Cited by 308
Comparing Online and Offline Self-Disclosure: A Systematic Review
Nguyen, M., Bin, Y. S., & Campbell, A. (2011) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0277 · Cited by 297
Anonymity, Intimacy and Self-Disclosure in Social Media
Ma, X., Hancock, J. T., & Naaman, M. (2016) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/2858036.2858414 · Cited by 244
Comparing Data from Chatbot and Web Surveys
Kim, S., Lee, J., & Gweon, G. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300316 · Cited by 218
Lee, M., Ackermans, S., van As, N., Chang, H.-W., Lucas, E., & IJsselsteijn, W. A. (2019) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3290605.3300932 · Cited by 208
Factors contributing to verbal self-disclosure
Ignatius, E., & Kokkonen, M. (2007) · Nordic Psychology · doi:10.1027/1901-2276.59.4.362 · Cited by 149
What Makes a Good Conversation? Challenges in Designing Truly Conversational Agents
Clark, L., Pantidi, N., Cooney, O., Doyle, P. R., Garaialde, D., Edwards, J., Spillane, B., Murad, C., Munteanu, C., Wade, V., et al. (2019) · Cork Open Research Archive (University College Cork, Ireland) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1901.06525 · Cited by 145
Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy
(2007) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0b013e318126bc89 · Cited by 131
Modeling Self-Disclosure in Social Networking Sites
Wang, Y., Burke, M., & Kraut, R. E. (2016) · ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1145/2818048.2820010 · Cited by 126
Should your lips be zipped? How therapist self‐disclosure and non‐disclosure affects clients
Hanson, J. (2005) · Counselling and Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1080/17441690500226658 · Cited by 123
Reciprocity of self-disclosure at the individual and dyadic levels: A social relations analysis.
Miller, L. C., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.4.713 · Cited by 105
Dinev, T., & Hart (2006) · e-Service Journal · doi:10.2979/esj.2006.4.3.25 · Cited by 102
(1987) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-3523-6 · Cited by 97
Supporting Workplace Detachment and Reattachment with Conversational Intelligence
Williams, A. C., Kaur, H., Mark, G. J., Thompson, A. L., Iqbal, S. T., & Teevan, J. B. (2018) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3173574.3173662 · Cited by 91
Emotional Intelligence: Recognizing and Regulating Emotions
Reeves, A. L. (2005) · AAOHN Journal · doi:10.1177/216507990505300407 · Cited by 78
An Empirical Study of Self-Disclosure in Spoken Dialogue Systems
Ravichander, A., & Black, A. W. (2018) · Annual Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue · doi:10.18653/v1/w18-5030 · Cited by 62
Can a Machine Tend to Teenagers' Emotional Needs?: A Study with Conversational Agents
Kim, J., Kim, Y., Kim, B., Yun, S., Kim, M., & Lee, J. (2018) · Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3170427.3188548 · Cited by 51
Huang, Y., Tang, Y., & Wang, Y. (2015) · ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) · doi:10.1145/2675133.2675173 · Cited by 44
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 13
- Timothy Bickmore and Justine Cassell. 1999. Small talk and conversational storytelling in embodied conversational interface agents. In AAAI fall symposium on narrative intelligence. 87--92.
- Timothy Bickmore and Amanda Gruber. 2010. Relational agents in clinical psychiatry. Harvard review of psychiatry 18, 2 (2010), 119--130.
- Patrick Corrigan. 2004. How stigma interferes with mental health care. American psychologist 59, 7 (2004), 614.
- Paul C Cozby. 1973. Self-disclosure: a literature review. Psychological bulletin 79, 2 (1973), 73.
- David DeVault, Ron Artstein, Grace Benn, Teresa Dey, Ed Fast, Alesia Gainer, Kallirroi Georgila, Jon Gratch, Arno Hartholt, Margaux Lhommet, and others. 2014. SimSensei Kiosk: A virtual human interviewer for healthcare decision support. In Proceedings of the 2014 international conference on Autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, 1061--1068.
- Gavin Doherty, David Coyle, and Mark Matthews. 2010. Design and evaluation guidelines for mental health technologies. Interacting with computers 22, 4 (2010), 243--252.
- Charles T Hill and Donald E Stull. 1987. Gender and self-disclosure. In Self-Disclosure. Springer, 81--100.
- Hsin-Yi Huang. 2016. Examining the beneficial effects of individual's self-disclosure on the social network site. Computers in human behavior 57 (2016), 122--132.
- Hamutal Kreiner and Yossi Levi-Belz. 2019. Self-Disclosure Here and Now: Combining Retrospective Perceived Assessment With Dynamic Behavioral Measures. Frontiers in psychology 10 (2019).
- Kira Kretzschmar, Holly Tyroll, Gabriela Pavarini, Arianna Manzini, Ilina Singh, and NeurOx Young People's Advisory Group. 2019. Can your phone be your therapist? Young people's ethical perspectives on the use of fully automated conversational agents (Chatbots) in mental health support. Biomedical informatics insights 11 (2019), 1178222619829083.
- James W Pennebaker. 1995. Emotion, disclosure, & health. American Psychological Association.
- Kathryn Robertson and others. 2005. Active listening: more than just paying attention. Australian family physician 34, 12 (2005), 1053.
- Hans Van der Heijden. 2003. Factors influencing the usage of websites: the case of a generic portal in The Netherlands. Information & management 40, 6 (2003), 541--549.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Huang, W., Hew, K. F., & Fryer, L. K. (2022) · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · doi:10.1111/jcal.12610 · Cited by 830
My Chatbot Companion - a Study of Human-Chatbot Relationships
Skjuve, M., Følstad, A., Fostervold, K. I., & Brandtzaeg, P. B. (2021) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102601 · Cited by 797
“Previous research has shown that a chatbot ’ s level of reciprocity can influence users ’ willingness to self-disclose as well as the perceived level of intimacy and enjoyment (Lee et al., 2020).”
BackgroundRapp, A., Curti, L., & Boldi, A. (2021) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102630 · Cited by 733
My AI Friend: How Users of a Social Chatbot Understand Their Human–AI Friendship
Brandtzaeg, P. B., Skjuve, M., & Følstad, A. (2022) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1093/hcr/hqac008 · Cited by 490
Zhang, J., Oh, Y. J., Lange, P., Yu, Z., & Fukuoka, Y. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/22845 · Cited by 363
“However, contrary findings have also been identified as some studies show evidence that people respond well and disclose more personal information if the chatbot is presented as a bot and can also display emotions [60,61].”
Result
Metadata
- Authors
- Lee, Y.-C., Yamashita, N., Huang, Y., & Fu, W.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- NTT (Japan) (JP)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2020-04-21
- Pages
- 1-12
- OpenAlex
- W3029922759
- Cited by
- 339
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 52 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 49.75
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Scientific Research (A) 17H00771)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › AI in Service Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Speech and dialogue systems
- Keywords
- chatbots, self-disclosure, reciprocity, human-computer dialogue, small talk, intimacy, enjoyment, chatbot design, long-term interaction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review