Conforming to AI vs. humans: The moderating effects of social exclusion and task type

HeeJun Lee, Hyeontaek Oh and Yoonkyung Jeong

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: Conformity is often understood as a socially motivated process; however, individuals increasingly conform not only to humans but also to artificial intelligence (AI). It remains unclear whether the same motivational and task-related mechanisms underlie conformity across these sources. To examine whether conformity to AI reflects task- and motivation- dependent processes similar to those underlying conformity to humans, we conducted an online conformity experiment in which we manipulated opinion source (AI vs. human) and task type (objective vs. subjective), while measuring participants’ self-reported experiences of social exclusion as a potential moderator. Participants (N = 354) were randomly assigned to either an AI or human opinion-source condition and completed a series of judgment tasks. The results showed that social exclusion reduced conformity to AI-generated opinions, but not to human opinions. In contrast, task type did not significantly moderate the effect of opinion source. These findings suggest that conformity to AI may be shaped by mechanisms that differ from those underlying traditional interpersonal conformity, particularly under conditions of social disconnection. More broadly, the findings indicate that responses to AI- generated opinions may depend not only on social-affiliative motives but also on informational or epistemic evaluations of the source.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0355478

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0355478

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