East Asians more open to chatbot companionship than Westerners

A new study published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology suggests that cultural background influences how people feel about socially interacting with artificial intelligence. Researchers found that East Asian participants expected to enjoy conversations with chatbots more than their Western counterparts, highlighting key differences in attitudes toward AI companionship.

As AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT and Xiaoice become increasingly embedded in daily life, questions arise about how people perceive them. While some rely on these chatbots for productivity, others engage with them for emotional support. In East Asia, social chatbots have millions of users and even assist with caregiving, but cultural attitudes toward AI companionship remain a subject of debate.

Previous studies have presented mixed findings, with some suggesting Westerners embrace robots more, while others found East Asians to be more accepting. To investigate further, a research team led by Dunigan P. Folk from the University of British Columbia in Canada conducted two studies comparing perspectives between Western and East Asian groups.

In total, 1,659 participants were recruited. The first study surveyed 675 university students of East Asian and European descent in Canada. The second study expanded the research to include 984 Chinese and Japanese adults living in China, Japan, and the United States.

Across both studies, participants reported how much they would expect to enjoy a hypothetical conversation with a chatbot. They also responded to questions about how they would feel if someone else formed a social connection with a chatbot. Anthropomorphism—the tendency to attribute human characteristics to non-human entities—and exposure to advanced technology were also measured.

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The results showed a clear pattern: participants from East Asian backgrounds were more open to forming emotional connections with chatbots compared to those from European backgrounds.

In Study 1, East Asian students who were not born in Canada expected to enjoy a conversation with AI more than East Asian students who were Canadian-born. East Asian students were also less uncomfortable with the idea of others bonding with AI compared to students of European heritage. In Study 2, Chinese and Japanese adults displayed more positive attitudes toward human–chatbot conversations than American adults.

Folk and colleagues highlight anthropomorphism as a key factor behind these cultural differences. East Asian participants were more likely to perceive AI as possessing human-like qualities, which may make interactions with chatbots feel more natural.

“Chinese [participants] scored higher than both American and Japanese participants in measures of anthropomorphism of technology… Japanese, too, exhibited significantly higher levels of anthropomorphism than Americans. Such differences are consistent with the idea that cultures rooted in historically animistic Eastern religions are more likely to humanize robots in the present day,” Folk and colleagues explained.

Beyond cultural philosophy, the researchers also examined exposure to technology. The study noted that repeated exposure to AI-powered social chatbots in East Asia could contribute to greater familiarity and acceptance, although exposure alone did not fully account for the differences in attitudes.

Despite these findings, the study had limitations. Participants responded to hypothetical scenarios rather than engaging with real chatbots, so actual behaviors may differ. Additionally, the research focused on a limited set of cultural groups, which may restrict the generalizability of the results.

The study, “Cultural Variation in Attitudes Toward Social Chatbots,” was authored by Dunigan P. Folk, Chenxi Wu, and Steven J. Heine.