How do Psychology Students Perceive the Empathetic Qualities of Generative AI?

Zandberg, Vivian (2025) How do Psychology Students Perceive the Empathetic Qualities of Generative AI? Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

As generative AI becomes increasingly integrated into mental health care, questions arise about its ability to provide a sense of emotional understanding. How do people perceive AI’s capacity for empathy, and what features make its responses seem emotionally authentic, or not? This study explores current psychological attitudes toward AI in emotionally sensitive contexts, focusing on study-related stress. A total of 231 participants evaluated AI-generated responses to stress-related scenarios, examining how different response formats and prior experience with AI influence perceptions of its empathy. The results showed that responses designed to be more empathetic were rated higher than those designed to be less empathetic, indicating that linguistic and structural elements strongly shape perceptions of AI empathy. Prior experience with AI for emotional support had a small to moderate effect on these evaluations. The most valued aspect of AI responses was the acknowledgment and validation of emotions, while impersonal tone, bullet-point formatting, and direct advice without emotional recognition were associated with lower empathy ratings. These findings raise ethical considerations regarding the distinction between artificial and genuine emotional understanding and the potential risks of over-reliance on AI for support. Despite recognizing AI’s lack of true emotional capabilities, participants still perceived it as empathetic, emphasizing the importance of response style in shaping user perceptions. This study highlights the need to explore what makes human responses uniquely valuable and how AI can be responsibly utilized as a tool in emotionally applicable contexts.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Kiers, H.A.L.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	02 May 2025 11:28
Last Modified:	02 May 2025 11:28
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4867

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