A Robot-Led Intervention for Emotion Regulation: From Expression to Reappraisal

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Laban, Guy, Wang, Julie, Gunes, Hatice
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Laban, Guy
Wang, Julie
Gunes, Hatice
author_facet Laban, Guy
Wang, Julie
Gunes, Hatice
contents Emotion regulation is a crucial skill for managing emotions in everyday life, yet finding a constructive and accessible method to support these processes remains challenging due to their cognitive demands. In this study, we explore how regular interactions with a social robot, conducted in a structured yet familiar environment within university halls and departments, can provide effective support for emotion regulation through cognitive reappraisal. Twenty-one students participated in a five-session study at a university hall or department, where the robot, powered by a large language model (GPT-3.5), facilitated structured conversations, encouraging the students to reinterpret emotionally charged situations they shared with the robot. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate significant improvements in emotion self-regulation, with participants reporting better understanding and control of their emotions. The intervention led to significant changes in constructive emotion regulation tendencies and positive effects on mood and sentiment after each session. The findings also demonstrate that repeated interactions with the robot encouraged greater emotional expressiveness, including longer speech disclosures, increased use of affective language, and heightened facial arousal. Notably, expressiveness followed structured patterns aligned with the reappraisal process, with expression peaking during key reappraisal moments, particularly when participants were prompted to reinterpret negative experiences. The qualitative feedback further highlighted how the robot fostered introspection and provided a supportive space for discussing emotions, enabling participants to confront long-avoided emotional challenges. These findings demonstrate the potential of robots to effectively assist in emotion regulation in familiar environments, offering both emotional support and cognitive guidance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_18243
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Robot-Led Intervention for Emotion Regulation: From Expression to Reappraisal
Laban, Guy
Wang, Julie
Gunes, Hatice
Human-Computer Interaction
Robotics
Emotion regulation is a crucial skill for managing emotions in everyday life, yet finding a constructive and accessible method to support these processes remains challenging due to their cognitive demands. In this study, we explore how regular interactions with a social robot, conducted in a structured yet familiar environment within university halls and departments, can provide effective support for emotion regulation through cognitive reappraisal. Twenty-one students participated in a five-session study at a university hall or department, where the robot, powered by a large language model (GPT-3.5), facilitated structured conversations, encouraging the students to reinterpret emotionally charged situations they shared with the robot. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate significant improvements in emotion self-regulation, with participants reporting better understanding and control of their emotions. The intervention led to significant changes in constructive emotion regulation tendencies and positive effects on mood and sentiment after each session. The findings also demonstrate that repeated interactions with the robot encouraged greater emotional expressiveness, including longer speech disclosures, increased use of affective language, and heightened facial arousal. Notably, expressiveness followed structured patterns aligned with the reappraisal process, with expression peaking during key reappraisal moments, particularly when participants were prompted to reinterpret negative experiences. The qualitative feedback further highlighted how the robot fostered introspection and provided a supportive space for discussing emotions, enabling participants to confront long-avoided emotional challenges. These findings demonstrate the potential of robots to effectively assist in emotion regulation in familiar environments, offering both emotional support and cognitive guidance.
title A Robot-Led Intervention for Emotion Regulation: From Expression to Reappraisal
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.18243