First-person vs. third-person perspective in AI counselling: the role of immersion, self-disclosure, and social anxiety

Seyoung Lee, YounJung Park and Gain Park

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2025, vol. 44, issue 17, 4301-4314

Abstract: The mental healthcare industry is actively accepting the use of virtual agents and spaces, and its interactive nature has gained attention as an alternative to scarce in-person assistance. However, there is still a lack of research on interaction designs and the psychological mechanisms behind user satisfaction in virtual counselling. One of the most intuitive interaction designs in virtual counselling is the user perspective, which plays an important role in user perception and behaviour. This study created two virtual counselling environments to explore the effect of first-person versus third-person perspectives on counselling satisfaction and examined the mediating roles of immersion and self-disclosure intention. Moreover, this study also examined the moderating role of counselees’ perceived social anxiety to expand the discussion to user characteristics. The survey responses of 363 American adults reporting their experiences with a virtual counsellor were analysed. The results revealed a significant positive effect of the first-person perspective on counselling satisfaction and significant mediating roles of immersion and self-disclosure intention. However, the moderating role of social anxiety was not supported. This study has theoretical and practical implications for researchers, mental healthcare professionals, and counselling environment developers.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2025.2470377

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