Artificial intelligence and perceived effort in relationship maintenance

Effects on relationship satisfaction and uncertainty

Bibliographic Data

ID2927582
AuthorsBingjie Liu (0000-0001-9019-8521, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, corresponding author), Jin Kang (0000-0002-9580-3054, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada), Lewen Wei (0000-0002-4387-2779, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia)
Year2024
Volume41
Issue5
Pages1232-1252
Publication date2024-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social and Personal Relationships (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-4075 • E-ISSN: 1460-3608
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/02654075231189899
OpenAlexW4384696555
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited49

Maintaining satisfying close relationships is important for individuals' well-being. In the digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has growing applications for relationship maintenance and thus implications for relational well-being. We hypothesize that although using AI to help with relational maintenance may reduce an individual's effort, their partner may perceive AI-augmented activities negatively. According to the investment model and equity theory, perceptions of diminished effort in a relationship may lead to less satisfaction and greater uncertainty about the partner's involvement in the relationship. In an online experiment, we presented participants ( N = 208) with hypothetical scenarios of relational maintenance initiated by a fictional close friend, with a 3 (agency: self-without-augmentation vs. AI-augmented vs. human-augmented) × 3 (relational task: support-giving vs. advice-giving vs. birthday celebration) between-subjects design. Compared to the self-without-augmentation condition (i.e., the control condition) where the friend completed a relational task with no external aid, using AI assistance led participants to perceive the friend expended less effort, reducing participants' relationship satisfaction and increasing uncertainty. Getting help from another person was not significantly different from using AI in terms of perceived partner effort, relationship satisfaction, uncertainty, and perceived appropriateness. We discuss the implications of the findings for relational maintenance and technology-mediated communication

Agency (philosophy · Control (management · Perception · Relationship maintenance · Task (project management · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Computer Science · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Engineering · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

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