Who Sees Human?: The Stability and Importance of Individual Differences in Anthropomorphism
Open accessAbstract
Anthropomorphism is a far-reaching phenomenon that incorporates ideas from social psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and the neurosciences. Although commonly considered to be a relatively universal phenomenon with only limited importance in modern industrialized societies—more cute than critical—our research suggests precisely the opposite. In particular, we provide a measure of stable individual differences in anthropomorphism that predicts three important consequences for everyday life. This research demonstrates that individual differences in anthropomorphism predict the degree of moral care and concern afforded to an agent, the amount of responsibility and trust placed on an agent, and the extent to which an agent serves as a source of social influence on the self. These consequences have implications for disciplines outside of psychology including human–computer interaction, business (marketing and finance), and law. Concluding discussion addresses how understanding anthropomorphism not only informs the burgeoning study of nonpersons, but how it informs classic issues underlying person perception as well.
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Existing academic anthropomorphism scales, developed largely in the context of robots and earlier technologies, prioritize markers of human uniqueness, such as consciousness, intentionality, and spirituality.
“Existing academic anthropomorphism scales, developed largely in the context of robots and earlier technologies, prioritize markers of human uniqueness, such as consciousness, intentionality, and spirituality [36, 46].”
From Humanlike AI Design Increases Anthropomorphism but Yields Divergent Outcomes on Engagement and Trust Globally (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
The “What Is Anthropomorphism?” section identifies distinctively human mental capacities, including intentionality, as central to anthropomorphism. But “Measuring Stable Behavioral Tendencies: The IDAQ” says this paper’s scale was developed for animals, natural entities, spiritual agents, and technological devices—not largely for robots—and that spiritual-agent items were removed from the final measure. The source therefore supports the emphasis on humanlike mental capacities, but not the full characterization of the scales’ technological context or spirituality as a prioritized marker. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe more humanlike an entity appears, the more socially engaged consumers tend to become.
“The more humanlike an entity appears, the more socially engaged consumers tend to become (Gong2008; Waytz, Cacioppo, and Epley2010; Waytz, Morewedge, etal.2010).”
From Consumer Response to Anthropomorphism of Text‐Based <scp>AI</scp> Chatbots: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Directions (2025) · cites this paper as Waytz, Cacioppo, and Epley 2010
The Human–Computer Interaction section says anthropomorphic interfaces tend to increase engagement, while the Business: Marketing and Finance section says humanlike product cues can increase consumer liking and improve product evaluations. Neither section establishes that consumers become more socially engaged as an entity appears more humanlike; the paper discusses engagement in a different setting and consumer responses using different measures. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredParticipants rated the chatbot on 10 attributes using 5-point Likert scales, compiled from previous work on anthropomorphism of AI systems and technology.
“Participants rated the chatbot on 10 attributes using 5-point Likert scales. These items were compiled from previous work on anthropomorphism of AI systems and technology [36, 37, 46].”
From Humanlike AI Design Increases Anthropomorphism but Yields Divergent Outcomes on Engagement and Trust Globally (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
Perceptions of social potential vary from person to person and situation to situation.
“Given that perceptions of social potential vary from person to person and situation to situation (Waytz et al., 2010), we cannot establish objective, universal parameters of what constitutes “enough” cues.”
From Building a Stronger CASA: Extending the Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm (2020) · cites this paper as Waytz et al., 2010
We cannot establish objective, universal parameters of what constitutes "enough" cues.
“Given that perceptions of social potential vary from person to person and situation to situation (Waytz et al., 2010), we cannot establish objective, universal parameters of what constitutes “enough” cues.”
From Building a Stronger CASA: Extending the Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm (2020) · cites this paper as Waytz et al., 2010
Anthropomorphism is the perception of human traits or qualities in an entity and indicate its potential for social interaction.
“Anthropomorphism is the perception of human traits or qualities in an entity and indicate its potential for social interaction (Breazeal, 2003; Waytz et al., 2010).”
From Building a Stronger CASA: Extending the Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm (2020) · cites this paper as Waytz et al., 2010
If AI is perceived as having a mind of its own, it can be viewed as capable of intentional action and therefore held responsible for its actions.
“For example, if AI is perceived as having a mind of its own, then this means that it can be viewed as capable of intentional action, and therefore, held responsible for its actions [36].”
From Anthropomorphism in AI: hype and fallacy (2024) · cites this paper as [36]
Research demonstrates that people relate to conversational agents as if they were human despite knowing that they are computer programs.
“This is consistent with research demonstrating that people relate to conversational agents as if they were human despite knowing that they are computer programs [38].”
From Conversational agents in the treatment of mental health problems: mixed-method systematic review (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
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Flagged first, then by citations
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“Anthropomorphism is the perception of human traits or qualities in an entity and indicate its potential for social interaction (Breazeal, 2003; Waytz et al., 2010).”
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“20).”
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“These items were compiled from previous work on the anthropomorphism of AI systems and technology ([36, 37, 43]).”
- Authors
- Waytz, A., Cacioppo, J., & Epley, N.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, IL
- Corresponding author
- Waytz, Adam
- Venue
- Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-05
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 219-232
- ISSN
- 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-6924
- PMC
- PMC4021380
- OpenAlex
- W2100827418
- Cited by
- 1,228
- References
- 110
- Citations by year
- 2026: 198 · 2025: 193 · 2024: 121 · 2023: 121 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 97 · 2020: 92 · 2019: 55 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 23.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Perspectives on Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- John Templeton Foundation
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000430)
- National Institute on Aging (P01AG018911, R37AG033590, R01AG034052)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- anthropomorphism, individual differences, person perception, moral concern, responsibility, trust, social influence, personification, 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 ›
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