The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 62 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
How “Real” Are Computer Personalities?: Psychological Responses to Personality Types in Human-Computer Interaction
Abstract
How “real” are computer personalities? Using a psychological criterion for “reality,” 2 studies tested whether people respond to computer personalities the same way they tend to respond to human personalities. In Experiment 1, dominant and submissive subjects were randomly matched with a computer endowed with the personality characteristics associated with dominance or submissiveness (N = 48). Consistent with similarity-attraction theory in interpersonal interaction, subjects were more attracted to the similar computer compared to the dissimilar computer. Experiment 2 (N = 88) used the same experimental design to assess users' psychological responses to changes in personality-based behavior in computers. Consistent with gain-loss theory in interpersonal interaction, changes in the direction of similarity had a more positive effect on attraction than a consistently similar personality. Loss effects were not obtained. The findings suggest that computer personalities are psychologically real to users.
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
“In HCI contexts, when presented with a technology possessing cues that are normally associated with human behavior (e.g., language, turn-taking, interactivity), individuals respond by exhibiting social behavior and making anthropomorphic attributions (Epley et al. 2007; Moon and Nass 1996; Nass et al. 1995).”
From AI-based chatbots in customer service and their effects on user compliance (2021) · cites this paper as Moon and Nass 1996
Citations
Cites
The measurement of psychological androgyny
Bem, S. L. (1974) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0036215 · Cited by 8,522
Searle, J. R. (1980) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00005756 · Cited by 6,954
An Introduction to the Five‐Factor Model and Its Applications
McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x · Cited by 6,835
Personality Structure: Emergence Of The 5-Factor Model
Digman, J. M. (1990) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.41.020190.002221 · Cited by 6,731
(1997) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.34-3702 · Cited by 4,872
Handbook of Personality : Theory and Research
Pervin, L. A. (1992) · Cited by 4,543
Norman, W. T. (1963) · Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0040291 · Cited by 2,619
Handbook of Personality Theory and Research.
Schwartz, M. L., Borgatta, E. F., & Lambert, W. W. (1970) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2093310 · Cited by 2,182
A psychological taxonomy of trait‐descriptive terms: The interpersonal domain
Wiggins, J. S. (1979) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.3.395 · Cited by 1,596
Journal of Experimental Research in Personality
(1965) · Nature · doi:10.1038/2061296c0 · Cited by 1,426
Research works printed but not linked: 10
- Bruch, M. A., 1980, American Mental Health Counselors Association Journal, 2, 71
- Byrne, D., 1965, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4, 240
- Fogg, B. J., International Communication Association meeting
- Lafferty, J. C., The desert survival problem
- Nass, C. I., International Communication Association meeting
- Nass, C. I., International Communication Association meeting
- Nass, C. I., 1994, International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 40, 543
- Nias, D. K., Love and attraction, 151
- Wiggins, J. D., 1983, American Mental Health Counselors Association Journal, 5, 169
- Wiggins, J. S., 1985, Perspectives in Personality, 1, 1
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–292 of 292
Awe-inspired experience in the metaverse: A multi-study investigation
Kautish, P., Lim, W. M., & Joshi, N. A. (2025) · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104390 · Cited by 8
Kim, Y., & Lee, S. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18083903 · Cited by 6
Agreeableness of a Virtual Agent: Effects of Reciprocity and Need for Help
Kim, J., Sah, Y. J., & Song, H. (2021) · International Conference on Ubiquitous Information Management and Communication (IMCOM) · doi:10.1109/imcom51814.2021.9377323 · Cited by 4
Kim, Y. (2024) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-024-01709-6 · Cited by 4
Adapting In-Vehicle Voice Output:A User- and Situation-Adaptive Approach
Stier, D., Heid, U., & Minker, W. (2020) · International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (AutomotiveUI) · doi:10.1145/3409251.3411711 · Cited by 4
“…[1] whether the similarity principle, according to which an extraverted user prefers an “extraverted” system reflecting his/her language style [11, 12, 23], or the complementarity principle should be applied, which would suggest an “introverted” system with complementary language behaviour…”
BackgroundCharacter Attachment in Games as Moderator for Learning
Lewis, M., & Weber, R. (2009) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-808-6.ch034 · Cited by 4
The Effect of Personality Traits and Perceived Cultural Similarity on Attraction
Pornpitakpan, C. (2003) · Journal of International Consumer Marketing · doi:10.1300/j046v15n03_02 · Cited by 4
Ghosts in the Machine: Personalities for Socially Adroit Software Agents
Dryer, D. C. (1997) · Cited by 4
When Function Follows Form: Anthropomorphism of Artifact “Faces”
Sims, V. K., Chin, M. G., Yordon, R. E., Sushil, D. J., Barber, D. J., Owens, C. W., Smith, H. S., Dolezal, M. J., Shumaker, R., & Finkelstein, N. (2005) · Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · doi:10.1177/154193120504900381 · Cited by 4
“The difference between computers and other technology may be the tasks and qualities that computers share with humans (Moon & Nass, 1996).”
BackgroundSurvivor Buddy and SciGirls: Affect, outreach, and questions
Murphy, R. R., Srinivasan, V., Rashidi, N., Duncan, B. A., Rice, A., Henkel, Z., Garza, M., Nass, C., Groom, V., Zourntos, T., et al. (2010) · ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) · doi:10.1109/hri.2010.5453233 · Cited by 4
Self-citationToward a Theory of Consumer Interaction With Mobile Technology Devices
Rader, C. (2009) · Cited by 4
The Cognitive and Emotional Consequences of Anthropomorphic Thought.
Chandler, J. (2010) · Deep Blue (University of Michigan) · Cited by 4
Affiliation in human-AI interactions is based on shared psychological traits
Castiello, S., Pitliya, R. J., Lametti, D. R., & Murphy, R. A. (2026) · Communications Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44271-026-00433-8 · Cited by 5
Nakamura, Y., & Umemuro, H. (2022) · ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) · doi:10.1109/hri53351.2022.9889404 · Cited by 3
Seeing Ourselves in the Computer: How We Relate to Technologies
Mishra, P., Nicholson, M. D., & Wojcikiewicz, S. K. (2001) · Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy · Cited by 3
Shank, D. B. (2010) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-61520-901-9.ch003 · Cited by 3
Beliefs and Attributions toward Computing Technology
Johnson, R. D., Veltri, N. F., & Thatcher, J. B. (2015) · Journal of Organizational and End User Computing · doi:10.4018/joeuc.2015070102 · Cited by 3
Wyant, K., Sant'Ana, S. J. K., Punturieri, C., Yu, J., Fronk, G. E., Maggard, C. M., Janssen, C., Wanta, S. E., Kornfield, R., Swol, L. M. V., et al. (2025) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/81697 · Cited by 2
Alsharhan, A. M., Al‐Emran, M., & Shaalan, K. F. (2026) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2026.100942 · Cited by 3
Designing Artificial Identity: The Identity Design Framework and Research Agenda
Bransky, K., Sweetser, P., Holthaus, P., Laban, G., Winkle, K., Akalın, N., Ashok, A., Lee, J., Khot, R., Bejarano, A., et al. (2026) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3800645.3812962 · Cited by 4
Liebherr, M., Yankouskaya, A., Alshakhsi, S. A. A., Montag, C., & Ali, R. (2026) · Discover Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1007/s44163-026-01781-4 · Cited by 2
Miwa, K., & Terai, H. (2006) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 2
Interactive Experience of Collaborative Online Shopping: Real-Time Interaction and Communication
Esfidani, M. R., & Izadi, B. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-14961-0_23 · Cited by 2
Lee, B., Park, D., Yoon, J., & Kim, J. (2023) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s23063026 · Cited by 4
Customizability in Conversational Agents and Their Impact on Health Engagement (Stage 2)
Paul, S. C., Bartmann, N., & Clark, J. (2024) · Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies · doi:10.1155/2024/5015913 · Cited by 3
“In the case of deep-level characteristics, previous studies show users prefer agents that exhibit similar personality traits to themselves when communicated through text [46, 47].”
‘User as Assessor’ Approach to Embodied Conversational Agents
Nass, C., Robles, E., & Wang, Q. (2004) · Human-computer interaction series · doi:10.1007/1-4020-2730-3_6 · Cited by 2
“Personality Personality represents those characteristics of the person that account for consistent patterns of feelings, thinking and behaviors (see Nass and Moon (2000)).”
BackgroundSelf-citationInteraction with Clinical Decision Support Systems: The Challenge of Having a Steak with No Knife
Esmaeilzadeh, P. (2012) · InTech eBooks · doi:10.5772/48350 · Cited by 2
Commodify Thyself: Neither Myspace® Nor Your Space But a Space For Mass-Objectification of Subjects
Hong, S. (2009) · ACR North American Advances · Cited by 2
Attitudes toward Computer Synthesized Speech
Mullennix, J. W., & Stern, S. E. (2010) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-61520-725-1.ch013 · Cited by 2
The Emotion and Personality User Perception in Multi-screen Interaction
Liao, I.-C., Deng, Y.-S., & You, H.-C. (2016) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-40355-7_4 · Cited by 2
“The term dominant is used to describe a person exhibiting tendencies to command, control or lead others to take action, and a dominant interaction is usually perceived from the order of interaction, the confidence level and the language displayed on the computer [26].”
BackgroundHess, T. J., Fuller, M. A., & Mathew, J. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-48713-5_33 · Cited by 2
Can You Hear What I See? Nonverbal Communication and the Changing Face of TML
Richardson, S. M. (2007) · Communications of the Association for Information Systems · doi:10.17705/1cais.02058 · Cited by 2
The Influence of Syntax on the Perception of In-Vehicle Prompts and Driving Performance
Stier, D., Heid, U., Kittel, P., Schmidt, M., & Minker, W. (2020) · Lecture notes in electrical engineering · doi:10.1007/978-981-15-8395-7_26 · Cited by 2
Efficiency of communication in software user documentation.
Lahti, M. (2000) · Tampere University Institutional Repository (Tampere University) · Cited by 2
Rethinking Trust in Internet GovernancePreprint
Bradshaw, S. (2016) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2809885 · Cited by 2
Agency in Computer-Mediated Communication: Bots and US Political Elections
Piercy, C. W., Bisel, R. S., & Treem, J. W. (2022) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-80071-597-420221032 · Cited by 1
PIDM: Personality-Aware Interaction Diffusion Model for Gesture Generation
Shibasaki, T., Nakamura, Y., & Okadome, Y. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-72356-8_2 · Cited by 1
Adaptive humanoid robot behaviour in a serious game scenario through reinforcement learning
Zedda, E., Manca, M., Paternò, F., & Santoro, C. (2025) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2025.2456068 · Cited by 1
Liew, T. W., Tan, S.-M., & Tay, N. W. (2014) · Siti Hasmah Digital Library-MMU Institutiona Repository (Multimedia University) · Cited by 1
Participation in pedagogical agent design: effects on training outcomes
Thompson, L. F., & Behrend, T. S. (2009) · Cited by 1
Parvinen, P. M. T., Tiainen, O., Salo, J., Pöyry, E., & Blakaj, H. (2011) · International Conference on Electronic Commerce · doi:10.1145/2378104.2378109 · Cited by 1
Hwang, J., & McMillan, S. J. (2003) · Cited by 1
Wells, J. D., Valacich, J. S., & Campbell, D. E. (2008) · Cited by 1
Agency and Emotion in Interactions with Technological Representatives of Organizations
Shank, D. B. (2012) · Cited by 1
Yoo, K., & Ulrike Gretzel, B. (2011) · Cited by 1
Emotional Expression as a Means of Communicating Virtual Human Personalities
Sonlu, S., Shabanovi, K., Güdükbay, U., & Durupınar, F. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-50269-9_17 · Cited by 1
Effect of robot's title in human-robot interaction
Jung, Y., Park, T., & Hong, A. (2014) · International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence · doi:10.1109/urai.2014.7057515 · Cited by 1
“The characteristics of human-robot interaction, including interactive features, enable people to perceive the interaction as if it were the same as human-human interaction [9], [21], [22], [23].”
BackgroundAgent Gender and Sex-Typed Social Influenceability in Online Communication
Lee, E. (2007) · ACR North American Advances · Cited by 1
Criticism From Artificial Agents: Prior Interaction Reduces Negative Effects
Jin, B. (2019) · Communication Research Reports · doi:10.1080/08824096.2019.1578953 · Cited by 1
“Studies adopting the CASA paradigm showed that people apply social rules or norms — such as politeness, gender stereotypes, reciprocity, and others — when inter-acting with computers (Lee & Liang, 2015; Moon & Nass, 1996; Nass et al., 1999; Nass, Moon, & Green, 1997).”
BackgroundMethodOnline Inter@ctivity via Web 3.0
Hrichi, A. S. (2020) · Advances in business information systems and analytics book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-3756-5.ch012 · Cited by 1
Ravendran, R. (2013) · QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) · Cited by 1
Natural Language Processing: many questions, no answers
Grasso, F. (2000) · Cited by 1
An affective student model to assess emotions in an educational game
Zhou, X. (2009) · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · doi:10.14288/1.0051648 · Cited by 1
“Research shows that “people respond to computer personalities in the same way they would respond to human personalities” [50][52].”
BackgroundPatel, H. (2015) · IUScholarWorks (Indiana University) · doi:10.7912/c2/897 · Cited by 1
Gender differences in navigation dialogues with computer systems
Koulouri, T. (2013) · Brunel University Research Archive (BURA) (Brunel University London) · Cited by 1
Is There a Payoff to Perceptual Accuracy?Preprint
Vosgerau, J., Anderson, E., & Ross, W. T. (2004) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.438540
Gender and interface agents in the on-line news
Isotalus, P. (2009) · Communications · doi:10.1515/comm.2009.003
“Moon and Nass (1996) noticed that users were more attracted to a computer that was similar to their personality than to a dissimilar computer.”
BackgroundThe Benefits of (Automated) Dialogue
Hurling, R., Boni, M. D., & Richardson, A. (2009) · International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction · doi:10.4018/jthi.2009062504
Websites are capable of reflecting a particular human temperament : fact or fad?
Theron, A. (2008) · UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria)
Uncertainty Can Increase Explanatory Credibility
Khemlani, S., Gartenberg, D., Park, K. H., & Trafton, J. G. (2013) · eScholarship (California Digital Library)
Developing Voices for Smart Homes: User Personality and Synthetic Voice Interaction
Boye, G. (2007) · ERA
Biology and Culture of Human Inference
Viale, R. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-24743-9_13
Adding backchannel and turn-taking behavior to a typing interface
Banard, A. (1997) · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Developments in Emotional Language Generation
Belz, A. (2003)
Empirical study on the Effect of Interaction Attributes on User Experience
김영미, & HANYOUNGRYOO (2011) · Journal of Korea Design Forum · doi:10.21326/ksdt.2011..30.024
AUTOMATICALLY PREDICTING DOMINANT AND SUBMISSIVE PERSONALITY TYPES FROM TEXT
Boni, M. D., Dias, M. B., & Hurling, R. (2006)
Storytelling Agents with Personality and AdaptivityPreprint
Hu, Z., Walker, M. A., Neff, M., & Tree, J. E. F. (2017) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1709.01188
Interactions Between Humans, Virtual Agent Characters and Virtual Avatars
Griffith, T. (2020) · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research
Humanizing Digital Experiences: Three Essays on the Design of Digital Entities
Schanke, S. (2021) · University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota)
Nudging online privacy behaviour with anthropomorphic cues
Rodríguez-Priego, N., Rene, V. B., & Monteleone, S. (2021) · Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy
Emotion in motion: Bodily expressions of emotion for non-humanoid social robots
Wasala, K. (2021) · Queensland University of Technology · doi:10.5204/thesis.eprints.213833
Understanding Children's Private Speech and Self-Regulation Learning in Web 2.0
Agina, A. M., Tennyson, R. D., & Kommers, P. (2015) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-8111-8.ch069
Götzenbrucker, G. (2001) · VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-322-87337-8_6
The Benefits of (Automated) Dialogue
Hurling, R., Boni, M. D., & Richardson, A. (2011) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-60960-575-9.ch013
Künstliche Intelligenz – Politik und Sicherheit
Spitzer, M. (2023) · Nervenheilkunde · doi:10.1055/a-2106-0106
“Hinzu kommt, dass Chatbots sehr rasch eine Sie verhielten sich dem Computer gegenüber also ebenso wie gegenüber Persönlichkeitseigenschaften) auf Computer übertragen [4].”
BackgroundI’m not a human: A comparison of bot and human self-presentation
Madahali, L., & Tian, J. W. (2023) · IEEE Annual Ubiquitous Computing, Electronics & Mobile Communication Conference (UEMCON) · doi:10.1109/uemcon59035.2023.10316069
Shank, D. B. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-86061-4_3
The role of communication in encouraging sustainable behaviour.
Wilson, C. (2011) · DMU Open Research Archive (De Montfort University)
Wang, B., Luo, L., & Liu, W. (2026) · Human-Machine Communication · doi:10.30658/hmc.12.8
“…have long discovered a series of cases where individuals exhibit social behaviors toward computers and other new media, involving factors such as similarity (Moon & Nass, 1996 ), gender stereotypes (Nass et al., 1997 ), reciprocity (Fogg & Nass, 1997 ), and politeness (Nass et al., 1999 ).”
How Tech Workers Contend with Hazards of Humanlikeness in Generative AI
Díaz, M., Shelby, R. M., Corbett, E., & Smart, A. (2026) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772318.3791461 · Cited by 1
KARAKOÇ, E. (2026) · Kastamonu İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi · doi:10.56676/kiad.1770444
Zhang, Z., Zhou, Y., & Chen, X. H. (2026) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2026.2695435
Artificially sincere? How chatbot language style shapes consumer perceptions across brand contexts
Sands, S., Ferraro, C., Demsar, V., Leckie, C., & Campbell, C. (2026) · European Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1108/ejm-07-2025-0534
Passenger experience of an autonomous urban ferry: Evidence from a public trial in Norway
Simic, V., Veitch, E., Alsos, O. A., & Sitompul, T. A. (2026) · Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives · doi:10.1016/j.trip.2026.102199
Kim, J., Kim, J. H., Lee, D. C., Baek, T. H., & Kim, K. (2026) · Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing · doi:10.1080/10548408.2026.2722640
“Drawing on the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm (Moon & Nass, 1996), we further proposed that the advantage of the two-sided message will be more pronounced for individuals who perceive ChatGPT as more machine-like compared to those who see it as more human-like.”
Confidence Amplification in Human–AI Moral Decision-Making
Li, M., Patten, T., Lekhi, N., & Alsaid, A. (2026) · Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · doi:10.1177/10711813261493608
Gopi, S., Lim, C. M., & Lee, K. M. (2026) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2026.2745606
The Effect of Embodied Agents within the User Interface
Khan, R. (2011) · OpenGrey (Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique)
IL RAPPORTO UOMO-MACCHINA NELLE ORGANIZZAZIONI
Basadonne, M. C. (2000)
Metadata
- Authors
- MOON, Y., & NASS, C.
- Venue
- Communication Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1996-12
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 651-674
- ISSN
- 0093-6502 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3810
- OpenAlex
- W2110531388
- Cited by
- 291
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 7.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Communication Research (publishedVersion)
- 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 › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Keywords
- person perception, similarity attraction, interpersonal attraction, human-computer 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