Peer-reviewed Authoritative

The Dual Impact of AI Emotional Intelligence on Users: Are Social Chatbots Promoting Psychological Wellbeing or Deteriorating Social Wellbeing?

Mixed-method study of emotionally intelligent social chatbots. A netnographic analysis of user-generated posts on Reddit, YouTube and Trustpilot identified how users experience chatbot emotional intelligence; two experiments (N=167 and N=350) then tested its effect on psychological and social wellbeing. High-emotional-intelligence chatbots raised users' psychological wellbeing while lowering their social wellbeing, defined as real-world human-to-human connection.

Read at doi.org

Publisher

Psychology & Marketing (Wiley)

Published

21 Dec 2025

Added

today

DOI

10.1002/mar.70093(opens in a new tab)

Key Findings

Netnography of Reddit, YouTube and Trustpilot posts surfaced emotional relief after chatting with high-emotional-intelligence bots alongside reduced time or desire for in-person contact
Two experiments (N=167; N=350) found high-emotional-intelligence chatbots increased psychological wellbeing and decreased social wellbeing
Perceived closeness to the chatbot mediated both effects, and interaction mode (text versus augmented reality) moderated the mediation
The authors frame a wellbeing trade-off and argue for companion design that preserves users' real-world connections

Methodology Notes

Netnographic content analysis plus two scenario-based experiments manipulating chatbot emotional intelligence; sampling country and recruitment platform not stated in the abstract. Published online 21 December 2025. Wiley blocks automated access; verified from the Crossref record and the OpenAlex abstract on 2026-09-17. Press coverage resurfaced the paper around 15 September 2026.

Sources

Journal article (Wiley; blocks automated access)(opens in a new tab) (primary)

Topics

AI companionship Dependency & parasocial attachment social relational harm Human-AI relationships Digital mental health

Authors

Gupta, Shaphali, Saxena, Sumit, Kataria, Sonia

Cite This

APA

Gupta, Shaphali, Saxena, Sumit, Kataria, Sonia. (2025). The Dual Impact of AI Emotional Intelligence on Users: Are Social Chatbots Promoting Psychological Wellbeing or Deteriorating Social Wellbeing? Psychology & Marketing (Wiley). https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70093

Related Insights

Preprint

Living with AI Companions: Sustained AI Companionship Predicts Lower Well-Being Through Lower Human Interaction

arXiv (Stanford University; Carnegie Mellon University; University of Michigan; University of Oxford) · 7 Sept 2026