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Put that Away and Talk to Me - the Effects of Smartphone induced Ostracism while Interacting with an Intelligent Virtual Agent

Published: 09 November 2021 Publication History

Abstract

This paper presents the implementation of a prototype including a virtual environment in which humans are exposed to a seemingly autonomous Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) that ostracises them by using its smartphone during a conversation (a phenomenon called phubbing with adverse outcomes in interhuman communication). Based on the temporal need threat model of ostracism, the effects of phubbing were examined in an online experiment with three conditions (no vs. proactive vs. reactive phubbing) using an IVA. The results showed a significant effect on the warmth attributed to the IVA. Consequently, our study provides partial support that the negative effects of phubbing can be transfered to human-agent interaction. It is thereby not only in line with the underlying theory, but also provides a prototype suitable for future research with phubbing in the context of IVAs.

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Cited By

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  • (2024)Agent-based Mediation on Smartphone Usage among Co-located CouplesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36764878:MHCI(1-20)Online publication date: 24-Sep-2024
  • (2023)Behavioural Adaptation Towards Foreign Virtual Agents in VR - the Impact of Non-Native SpeechProceedings of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents10.1145/3570945.3607313(1-3)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2023
  • (2023)Effects of Social Ingroup Cues on Empathy Towards an Intelligent Virtual Agent With a Mixed-Cultural Background2023 11th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII)10.1109/ACII59096.2023.10388206(1-8)Online publication date: 10-Sep-2023
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        cover image ACM Conferences
        HAI '21: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction
        November 2021
        447 pages
        ISBN:9781450386203
        DOI:10.1145/3472307
        Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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        Published: 09 November 2021

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        Author Tags

        1. intelligent virtual agents
        2. ostracism
        3. phubbing

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        HAI '21
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        HAI '21: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction
        November 9 - 11, 2021
        Virtual Event, Japan

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        View all
        • (2024)Agent-based Mediation on Smartphone Usage among Co-located CouplesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36764878:MHCI(1-20)Online publication date: 24-Sep-2024
        • (2023)Behavioural Adaptation Towards Foreign Virtual Agents in VR - the Impact of Non-Native SpeechProceedings of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents10.1145/3570945.3607313(1-3)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2023
        • (2023)Effects of Social Ingroup Cues on Empathy Towards an Intelligent Virtual Agent With a Mixed-Cultural Background2023 11th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII)10.1109/ACII59096.2023.10388206(1-8)Online publication date: 10-Sep-2023
        • (2023)Is socially disruptive smartphone use detrimental to well-being? A systematic meta-analytic review on being phubbedBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2023.220921343:7(1283-1311)Online publication date: 8-May-2023

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