Does the Ethnicity of a Computer Agent Matter?
An Experimental Comparison of Human-Computer Interaction and
Computer-Mediated Communication
Proceedings of the WECC Conference(1998), Lake Tahoe, CA
Effects of social identification, or in-group favoritism, were found in human-computer interaction as well as computer-mediated communication. Compared to an agent (HCI)/partner (CMC) with a different social identity (as manifested through an interactive video face of a similar or different ethnicity), participants ( N = 40 ) perceived and interactant that shared the same social identity with them to have: 1) made more similar decision, 2) been more attractive and trustworthy, and 3) presented more persuasive and better arguments. Both similar-identity interactants also elicited more conformity to their opinion. The HCI and CMC results followed the same pattern. Implications for using human characters and agents in computer applications are discussed.
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