Uncanny Valley in Conversation? Effects of Internal and External Human-Likeness on Intimacy and Trust
Source record
jang-2026-uncanny-conversation· 2026 · Behavioral Sciences
Evidence tier: B (peer-reviewed-journal) · Verification: verified-abstract (compiler confidence: high)
Bottom line: A machine-like AI counsellor was liked and trusted most at low self-disclosure and less at high disclosure (an uncanny-valley-like curve of mind), whereas a human-like counsellor gained with deeper disclosure; internal and external human-likeness interact.
Citation
Jungwoo Jang, Jae-gil Lee, Hayeon Song (2026). Uncanny Valley in Conversation? Effects of Internal and External Human-Likeness on Intimacy and Trust. Behavioral Sciences, 16(10), 1794. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16101794
Verification entry (identifiers, resolvers, claims with source locations): /data/citations.json#jang-2026-uncanny-conversation
Study design
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Design | 2 (appearance: machine-like vs human-like) × 3 (self-disclosure depth: none, low, high) between-subjects experiment; one scripted counselling session with an LLM-style AI counsellor prototype; six outcome measures, controlling for prior mind perception |
| Modality | text |
| Stimuli | AI counsellor prototype varying appearance and depth of its own self-disclosure |
| Participants (N) | 193 |
| N detail | University students |
| Topics | uncanny-valley, mind-perception, trust |
Results
| Metric | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Machine-like counsellor: intimacy, social presence, trust, authenticity | peaked at low disclosure, declined at high | uncanny-valley-like pattern |
| Human-like counsellor | evaluations generally rose with disclosure depth | |
| Perceived inappropriateness | not higher for deeper disclosure | |
| Mediation (machine-like only) | deeper disclosure → lower anthropomorphism → lower intimacy and trust |
Moderators
- Agent appearance
Mechanism relevance
mind-perception
Limitations
- Student sample
- Single scripted session
- Values from abstract only
Cited in
- MR-0002: The Uncanny Valley and Synthetic Media: Does It Exist, What Causes It, and Have Deepfakes Crossed It?
Verification
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | verified-abstract |
| Compiler confidence | high |
| Checked on | 2026-10-19 |
| Via | OpenAlex abstract record W7215112744 for doi:10.3390/bs16101794 |
Values on this page have not all been checked against the full text. Confirm them against the primary source before high-stakes use.