Standing Up for the Self: The Role of Resistance in Self-Concept Clarity

I examined whether expressing minority opinions enhances self-concept clarity and whether need for uniqueness (NfU) moderates this predicted relationship. I used an experimental survey with a 2 (Pre-existing Position: opposed, in favor) × 2 (Majority Position: opposed, in favor) × 2 (Participant Action: resist, conform) design. Participants identified themselves as primarily for or against granting legal rights to homosexuals and completed an NfU measure. Participants were then randomly assigned to read that the majority of MSU students either oppose or support granting legal rights to homosexuals. After reading arguments consistent with the majority position, participants were asked to offer arguments that either supported or refuted the majority. Contrary to hypotheses, arguing the minority position did not enhance self-concept clarity. Anti-gay rights participants were higher in self-concept clarity than pro-gay rights participants, and they became even higher in self-concept clarity when arguing with an opposed majority than when arguing against one

Standing Up for the Self: The Role of Resistance in Self-Concept Clarity

I examined whether expressing minority opinions enhances self-concept clarity and whether need for uniqueness (NfU) moderates this predicted relationship. I used an experimental survey with a 2 (Pre-existing Position: opposed, in favor) × 2 (Majority Position: opposed, in favor) × 2 (Participant Action: resist, conform) design. Participants identified themselves as primarily for or against granting legal rights to homosexuals and completed an NfU measure. Participants were then randomly assigned to read that the majority of MSU students either oppose or support granting legal rights to homosexuals. After reading arguments consistent with the majority position, participants were asked to offer arguments that either supported or refuted the majority. Contrary to hypotheses, arguing the minority position did not enhance self-concept clarity. Anti-gay rights participants were higher in self-concept clarity than pro-gay rights participants, and they became even higher in self-concept clarity when arguing with an opposed majority than when arguing against one

Do I Desire Chatbots to be like Humans? Exploring Factors for Adoption of Chatbots for Financial Services

AI-powered chatbots are gaining traction across various industries, especially in the financial sector. Despite these implementations, chatbot adoption and usage among consumers is still low. Grounding on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) model and the Belief Desire Intentions (BDI) model, this study explores factors influencing the adoption of chatbots for financial sectors by emphasizing on the role of user desires in addition to human beliefs. Explicitly, the research hypothesizes the role of the humanness in chatbots influencing consumer adoption in the financial services sector. The suggested research model was tested via a sample of possible adopters from India, the USA, and Singapore. Results highlight the key role of consumer desires to make artificial machines indistinguishable from human beings. Implications for research and practice are also presented

Anthropomorphized chatbots in mental health applications

The number of people suffering from mental health disorders is steadily rising as a result of growing social and economic inequality, ongoing political conflict, and, not least, the COVID 19 pandemic. The rapid progress of artificial intelligence, and within it chatbots, presents an opportunity to address these deficiencies by reducing treatment barriers and providing economic benefits to service providers and consumers. To assure the effectiveness of chatbots in psychological health applications, they have to be accepted by users. A chatbot’s acceptance in mental health interventions is influenced by the benefits of intelligent machines, their expectation of nonjudgmental and unbiased support, and the effect of stigma on trust and belief in healthcare. Based on these insights, the experimental study examines whether users of psychological health apps more readily accept chatbots as opposed to physical health apps. Furthermore, the humanization of chatbots is a proven tool to enhance the quality of interaction with users. Thus, this dissertation additionally aims to investigate if a humanized chatbot entity affects their acceptance in the context of mental health apps. The results suggest that chatbots are more widely accepted in mental health applications compared to physical health applications. Moreover, the findings lead to the recommendation to implement humanized entities in chatbots within mental health applications. The results provide a rationale for conducting additional research to investigate the subject in greater depth. Due to the continuous development of AI, the utilization of chatbots in mental health care should be investigated continuously.O número de pessoas que sofrem de perturbações de saúde mental está a aumentar constantemente devido à desigualdade social e económica, conflitos políticos e da pandemia de COVID-19. O rápido progresso da inteligência artificial representa uma oportunidade para resolver estas perturbações, reduzindo os obstáculos ao tratamento e proporcionando benefícios económicos aos prestadores de serviços e aos pacientes. Para garantir a eficácia dos chatbots nas aplicações de saúde mental, estes têm de ser aceites pelos utilizadores. Esta aceitação nas intervenções de saúde mental é influenciada pelos benefícios das máquinas inteligentes, pela sua expectativa de apoio imparcial e sem juízos de valor e pelo efeito do estigma na confiança e na crença nos cuidados de saúde. Com base nestes conhecimentos, o estudo experimental examina se os chatbots são mais facilmente aceites pelos utilizadores de aplicações de saúde psicológica do que aplicações de saúde física. Além disso, a humanização dos chatbots é uma ferramenta comprovada para melhorar a qualidade da interacção com os utilizadores. Assim, esta dissertação tem como objetivo investigar se uma entidade chatbot humanizada afeta a sua aceitação no contexto de aplicações de saúde mental. Os resultados sugerem que os chatbots são melhor aceites em aplicações de saúde mental do que em aplicações de saúde física. Além disso, os resultados levam à recomendação da implementação de entidades humanizadas em chatbots dentro de aplicações de saúde mental. Devido ao desenvolvimento contínuo da IA, a utilização de chatbots nos cuidados de saúde mental deve ser investigada numa base contínua

Virtual Collaboration: An Investigation into the Influence of Avatars and 3D Virtual Environments on Team Effectiveness

Huysman, M.H. [Promotor]Schouten, A.P. [Copromotor]Feldberg, J.F.M. [Copromotor