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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10824 |
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| _version_ | 1866918291697565696 |
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| author | Zhang, Wanqi He, Jiangen Santos, Marielle |
| author_facet | Zhang, Wanqi He, Jiangen Santos, Marielle |
| contents | Social robots hold promise for reducing job interview anxiety, yet designing agents that provide both psychological safety and instructional guidance remains challenging. Through a three-phase iterative design study (N = 8), we empirically mapped this tension. Phase I revealed a "Safety-Guidance Gap": while a Person-Centered Therapy (PCT) robot established safety (d = 3.27), users felt insufficiently coached. Phase II identified a "Scaffolding Paradox": rigid feedback caused cognitive overload, while delayed feedback lacked specificity. In Phase III, we resolved these tensions by developing an Agency-Driven Interaction Layer. Synthesizing our empirical findings, we propose the Adaptive Scaffolding Ecosystem, a conceptual framework that redefines robotic coaching not as a static script, but as a dynamic balance between affective support and instructional challenge, mediated by user agency. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_10824 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Bridging Psychological Safety and Skill Guidance: An Adaptive Robotic Interview Coach Zhang, Wanqi He, Jiangen Santos, Marielle Human-Computer Interaction Social robots hold promise for reducing job interview anxiety, yet designing agents that provide both psychological safety and instructional guidance remains challenging. Through a three-phase iterative design study (N = 8), we empirically mapped this tension. Phase I revealed a "Safety-Guidance Gap": while a Person-Centered Therapy (PCT) robot established safety (d = 3.27), users felt insufficiently coached. Phase II identified a "Scaffolding Paradox": rigid feedback caused cognitive overload, while delayed feedback lacked specificity. In Phase III, we resolved these tensions by developing an Agency-Driven Interaction Layer. Synthesizing our empirical findings, we propose the Adaptive Scaffolding Ecosystem, a conceptual framework that redefines robotic coaching not as a static script, but as a dynamic balance between affective support and instructional challenge, mediated by user agency. |
| title | Bridging Psychological Safety and Skill Guidance: An Adaptive Robotic Interview Coach |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10824 |