Days in the study predict rising step counts but declining intention to follow chatbot advice regardless of empathetic condition¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The number of days in the study has a significant positive effect on average step counts and a slightly negative effect on intention to follow. → Li Siyan 2026

Evidence¶

Li Siyan 2026¶

Li Siyan, Kai-Hui Liang, Shopnil Shahriar, Yilin Ye, Shiyoh Goetsu, Wei-Wei Du, Masahiro Yoshida, Tsunayuki Ohwa, Xuhai Xu, and Zhou Yu. (2026). Invisible Impact of Empathy on Behavioral Change: Isolating the Effect of Empathy in Long-term Physical Activity Coaching Chatbot Interactions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.26641 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.26641

q2 · i? · causal · r1

Linear mixed-effects model on check-in form data from the six-week within-subject study, with empathetic condition, days in study, their interaction, and weekday/weekend as covariates. The article reports "a significant positive effect on the average step counts" and a slightly negative effect on intention to follow; the printed β values are unstandardized coefficients, not effect sizes.

"Our results reveal that the number of days has a significant positive effect on the average step counts for the past two days (𝛽= 69.2, 𝑝=. 001), but a slightly negative effect on intention to follow (𝛽=− 0.09, 𝑝=. 037)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• In a six-week within-subject study, the Empathetic PA coaching chatbot improves intention to follow and self-efficacy faster over time than the Non-Empathetic condition — reports the opposite
• Average check-in and weekly ratings show no significant differences between chatbot conditions, with the Non-Empathetic chatbot often rated as more engaging and useful — related
• Starting interaction with the Empathetic chatbot is associated with the least attrition in the six-week study — related