# Exploring the Effects of Chatbot Anthropomorphism and Human Empathy on Human Prosocial Behavior Toward Chatbots

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20748 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20748/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 119 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Jun 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [A Survey on Hallucination in Large Language Models: Principles, Taxonomy, Challenges, and Open Questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.05232/) (2023)
- [Gibson Env: Real-World Perception for Embodied Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.10654/) (2018)
- [Effect of Confidence and Explanation on Accuracy and Trust Calibration in AI-Assisted Decision Making](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.02114/) (2020)
- [Rehearsal: Simulating Conflict to Teach Conflict Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.12309/) (2023)
- [As Confidence Aligns: Exploring the Effect of AI Confidence on Human Self-confidence in Human-AI Decision Making](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.12868/) (2025)
- [The Benefits of Prosociality towards AI Agents: Examining the Effects of Helping AI Agents on Human Well-Being](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.02911/) (2025)
- [Should I Help a Delivery Robot? Cultivating Prosocial Norms through Observations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.19027/) (2024)
- [Wild Narratives: Exploring the Effects of Animal Chatbots on Empathy and Positive Attitudes toward Animals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.06060/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Hear You in Silence: Designing for Active Listening in Human Interaction with Conversational Agents Using Context-Aware Pacing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.06134/) (2026)
- ["Not Human, Funnier": How Machine Identity Shapes Humor Perception in Online AI Stand-up Comedy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.12763/) (2026)
- [AI Content Moderation in Therapy Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.25454/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Chatbots are increasingly integrated into people's lives and are widely used to help people. Recently, there has also been growing interest in the reverse direction-humans help chatbots-due to a wide range of benefits including better chatbot performance, human well-being, and collaborative outcomes. However, little research has explored the factors that motivate people to help chatbots. To address this gap, we draw on the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) framework to examine how chatbot anthropomorphism-including human-like identity, emotional expression, and non-verbal expression-influences human empathy toward chatbots and their subsequent prosocial behaviors and intentions. We also explore people's own interpretations of their prosocial behaviors toward chatbots. We conducted an online experiment (N = 244) in which chatbots made mistakes in a collaborative image labeling task and explained the reasons to participants. We then measured participants' prosocial behaviors and intentions toward the chatbots. Our findings revealed that human identity and emotional expression of chatbots increased participants' prosocial behavior and intention toward chatbots, with empathy mediating these effects. Qualitative analysis further identified two motivations for participants' prosocial behaviors: empathy for the chatbot and perceiving the chatbot as human-like. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding and promoting human prosocial behaviors toward chatbots.