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¶

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 Empathetic condition showed a significant positive interaction with days in study on intention to follow and self-efficacy compared to the Non-Empathetic condition. → 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 responses from the six-week within-subject study of 13 participants, with empathetic condition, days in study, their interaction, and a weekday/weekend control. The article reports a "significant positive interaction between the Empathetic condition and the number of days"; no standardized effect size is printed.

"We observe a significant positive interaction between the Empathetic condition and the number of days on both intention to follow ( 𝛽= 0.011, 𝑝=. 031) and self-efficacy ( 𝛽= 0.011, 𝑝=. 047), compared to the Non-Empathetic condition."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Days in the study predict rising step counts but declining intention to follow chatbot advice regardless of 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
• LLM-annotated empathy dimensions correlate positively with intention to follow, self-efficacy, and chatbot usefulness despite participants not preferring empathetic chatbots — related
• Starting interaction with the Empathetic chatbot is associated with the least attrition in the six-week study — related
• LLM-annotated EPITOME scores show the Non-Empathetic chatbot expresses significantly lower empathy on all three dimensions, while Standard and Empathetic chatbots are not significantly different — related
• Non-expert participants often fail to notice empathy differences between chatbot versions, so self-reported perceived empathy alone is an unreliable assessment method — related
• Using the chatbot-based journaling system improves self-reported SRL strategy use from pre-survey to 12-week follow-up in all groups, including baseline — related
• Purpose-built AI chatbots show generally promising short-term improvements in physical activity and dietary behaviors — related
• Purpose-built AI chatbot coaching is generally well received and supports short-term motivation and selected behavior change, but effects on sustained, meaningful outcomes are inconsistent — a broader claim this one bears on