{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T15:26:28Z","timestamp":1788881188491,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010054","name":"University of Roehampton","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Arch Sex Behav"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Artificial intelligence (AI) companions are increasingly used for social, emotional, and sometimes romantic fulfillment, raising questions about how people perceive and engage with these technologies. This study explored attitudes toward AI companionship and whether interviewer type (AI, human, or unmoderated) affects disclosure or engagement. A mixed-methods design was employed with 135 adult participants, who completed structured interviews including Likert scale items and open-ended questions about their views on AI companions. Most participants (55.6%) expressed hesitancy or resistance toward emotionally significant relationships with AI, although several reported openness to non-intimate or functional companionship such as friendship or mentoring. Motivations for engaging with AI included its non-judgment and trustworthiness, as well as its ability to provide emotional support and optimize daily life. Key barriers involved its lack of physicality, lack of humanity, incapacity to form an emotional connection, and privacy concerns. Participants in the unmoderated condition rated AI as a friend significantly higher than those in the human interviewer condition, and rated AI as equivalent to a human companion and as a potential romantic partner significantly higher than those in both the chatbot and human interviewer conditions. No statistically significant differences emerged across conditions in self-reported honesty. Participants\u2019 engagement metrics were generally higher in the human and unmoderated interviews compared to AI. These findings offer methodological insights for research on sensitive topics and highlight the complex, context-dependent ways people relate to AI companionship. Implications for policy, clinical practice, and the design of future AI companion systems are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s10508-025-03375-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T17:22:34Z","timestamp":1782321754000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["From Friends to Lovers: Understanding Motivations and Barriers in AI Companionship"],"prefix":"10.1007","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5594-2095","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura M.","family":"Vowels","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valerie A.","family":"Lapointe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shannon K.","family":"Sweeney","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George","family":"Nash","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Temian","family":"Schnell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simon","family":"Dub\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew J.","family":"Vowels","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"3375_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1093\/hcr\/hqac008","volume":"48","author":"PB Brandtzaeg","year":"2022","unstructured":"Brandtzaeg, P. B., Skjuve, M., & F\u00f8lstad, A. (2022). My AI friend: How users of a social chatbot understand their human\u2013AI friendship. Human Communication Research, 48(3), 404\u2013429. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/hcr\/hqac008","journal-title":"Human Communication Research"},{"key":"3375_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1007\/s44382-025-00011-2","volume":"1","author":"PB Brandtzaeg","year":"2025","unstructured":"Brandtzaeg, P. B., F\u00f8lstad, A., & Skjuve, M. (2025). Emerging AI individualism: How young people integrate social AI into everyday life. Communication and Change, 1, 11. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s44382-025-00011-2","journal-title":"Communication and Change"},{"key":"3375_CR3","volume-title":"Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences","author":"J Cohen","year":"1988","unstructured":"Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.","edition":"2"},{"issue":"3","key":"3375_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.1002\/jcpy.1393","volume":"34","author":"J De Freitas","year":"2024","unstructured":"De Freitas, J., U\u011furalp, A. K., O\u011fuz-U\u011furalp, Z., & Puntoni, S. (2024). Chatbots and mental health: Insights into the safety of generative AI. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 34(3), 481\u2013491. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/jcpy.1393","journal-title":"Journal of Consumer Psychology"},{"key":"3375_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100155","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbah.2025.100155","volume":"4","author":"R Djufril","year":"2025","unstructured":"Djufril, R., Frampton, J. R., & Knobloch-Westerwick, S. (2025). Love, marriage, pregnancy: Commitment processes in romantic relationships with AI chatbots. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, 4, 100155. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chbah.2025.100155","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans"},{"issue":"1","key":"3375_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x","volume":"62","author":"S Elo","year":"2008","unstructured":"Elo, S., & Kyng\u00e4s, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(1), 107\u2013115. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x","journal-title":"Journal of Advanced Nursing"},{"key":"3375_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Fang, C. M., Liu, A. R., Danry, V., Lee, E., Chan, S. W. T., Pataranutaporn, P., Maes, P., Phang, J., Lampe, M., Ahmad, L., & Agarwal, S. (2025). How AI and human behaviors shape psychosocial effects of chatbot use: A longitudinal randomized controlled study. Preprint retrieved from No. arXiv:2503.17473. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2503.17473","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.2503.17473"},{"issue":"4","key":"3375_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"584","DOI":"10.1214\/11-STS356","volume":"26","author":"JJ Goeman","year":"2011","unstructured":"Goeman, J. J., & Solari, A. (2011). Multiple testing for exploratory research. Statistical Science, 26(4), 584\u2013597. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1214\/11-STS356","journal-title":"Statistical Science"},{"issue":"7825","key":"3375_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"357","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2649-2","volume":"585","author":"CR Harris","year":"2020","unstructured":"Harris, C. R., Millman, K. J., van der Walt, S. J., Gommers, R., Virtanen, P., Cournapeau, D., Wieser, E., Taylor, J., Berg, S., Smith, N. J., Kern, R., Picus, M., Hoyer, S., van Kerkwijk, M. H., Brett, M., Haldane, A., del R\u00edo, J. F., Wiebe, M., Peterson, P., & Oliphant, T. E. (2020). Array programming with NumPy. Nature, 585(7825), 357\u2013362. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-020-2649-2","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"9","key":"3375_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1080\/10447318.2015.1065691","volume":"31","author":"M Hertzum","year":"2015","unstructured":"Hertzum, M., Borlund, P., & Kristoffersen, K. B. (2015). What do thinking-aloud participants say? A comparison of moderated and unmoderated usability sessions. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 31(9), 557\u2013570. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/10447318.2015.1065691","journal-title":"International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction"},{"issue":"2","key":"3375_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsp.36","volume":"31","author":"AN Joinson","year":"2001","unstructured":"Joinson, A. N. (2001). Self-disclosure in computer-mediated communication: The role of self-awareness and visual anonymity. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31(2), 177\u2013192. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/ejsp.36","journal-title":"European Journal of Social Psychology"},{"key":"3375_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Khayyatkhoshnevis, P., Tillberg, S., Latimer, E., Aubry, T., Fisher, A., & Mago, V. (2022). Comparison of moderated and unmoderated remote usability sessions for web-based simulation software: A randomized controlled trial. In M. Kurosu (Ed.), Human-computer interaction. Theoretical approaches and design methods (pp. 232\u2013251). Springer International Publishing. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-3-031-05311-5_16","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-05311-5_16"},{"issue":"4","key":"3375_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"649","DOI":"10.1177\/10946705221120232","volume":"25","author":"TW Kim","year":"2022","unstructured":"Kim, T. W., Jiang, L., Duhachek, A., Lee, H., & Garvey, A. (2022). Do you mind if i ask you a personal question? How AI service agents alter consumer self-disclosure. Journal of Service Research, 25(4), 649\u2013666. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/10946705221120232","journal-title":"Journal of Service Research"},{"issue":"10","key":"3375_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.3390\/soc14100200","volume":"14","author":"T Kouros","year":"2024","unstructured":"Kouros, T., & Papa, V. (2024). Digital mirrors: AI companions and the self. Societies, 14(10), 200. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/soc14100200","journal-title":"Societies"},{"issue":"10","key":"3375_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5923","DOI":"10.1177\/14614448221142007","volume":"26","author":"L Laestadius","year":"2024","unstructured":"Laestadius, L., Bishop, A., Gonzalez, M., Illen\u010d\u00edk, D., & Campos-Castillo, C. (2024). Too human and not human enough: A grounded theory analysis of mental health harms from emotional dependence on the social chatbot Replika. New Media & Society, 26(10), 5923\u20135941. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/14614448221142007","journal-title":"New Media & Society"},{"key":"3375_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10508-025-03099-1","author":"VA Lapointe","year":"2025","unstructured":"Lapointe, V. A., Dub\u00e9, S., Rukhlyadyev, S., Kessai, T., & Lafortune, D. (2025). The present and future of adult entertainment: A content analysis of AI-generated pornography websites. Archives of Sexual Behavior. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10508-025-03099-1","journal-title":"Archives of Sexual Behavior"},{"key":"3375_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Liu, A. R., Pataranutaporn, P., & Maes, P. (2024). Chatbot companionship: A mixed-methods study of companion chatbot usage patterns and their relationship to loneliness in active users. Preprint retrieved from No. arXiv: 2410.21596. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2410.21596","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.2410.21596"},{"key":"3375_CR18","unstructured":"Loria, S. (2018). TextBlob: Simplified text processing\u2014TextBlob 0.19.0 documentation. Preprint retrieved from https:\/\/textblob.readthedocs.io\/en\/dev\/"},{"key":"3375_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00146-025-02318-6","author":"K Malfacini","year":"2025","unstructured":"Malfacini, K. (2025). The impacts of companion AI on human relationships: Risks, benefits, and design considerations. AI & SOCIETY. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00146-025-02318-6","journal-title":"AI & SOCIETY"},{"key":"3375_CR37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. The Biochemia Medica, 22(3), 276\u2013282.","DOI":"10.11613\/BM.2012.031"},{"issue":"1","key":"3375_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1111\/0022-4537.00153","volume":"56","author":"C Nass","year":"2000","unstructured":"Nass, C., & Moon, Y. (2000). Machines and mindlessness: Social responses to computers. Journal of Social Issues, 56(1), 81\u2013103. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/0022-4537.00153","journal-title":"Journal of Social Issues"},{"issue":"4","key":"3375_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1090","DOI":"10.1111\/pere.12572","volume":"31","author":"S Pan","year":"2024","unstructured":"Pan, S., & Mou, Y. (2024). Constructing the meaning of human\u2013AI romantic relationships from the perspectives of users dating the social chatbot Replika. Personal Relationships, 31(4), 1090\u20131112. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/pere.12572","journal-title":"Personal Relationships"},{"key":"3375_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"107600","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2022.107600","volume":"140","author":"I Pentina","year":"2023","unstructured":"Pentina, I., Hancock, T., & Xie, T. (2023). Exploring relationship development with social chatbots: A mixed-method study of replika. Computers in Human Behavior, 140, 107600. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chb.2022.107600","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior"},{"key":"3375_CR36","unstructured":"Prolific. (2025). Prolific participant recruitment platform. https:\/\/www.prolific.com"},{"key":"3375_CR23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Rochette, G., Rochat, M., & Vowels, M. J. (2025). psifx\u2014Psychological and social interactions feature extraction package. Preprint retrieved from No. arXiv:2407.10266. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2407.10266","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.2407.10266"},{"issue":"4","key":"3375_CR24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"357","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00177.x","volume":"5","author":"CE Rusbult","year":"1998","unstructured":"Rusbult, C. E., Martz, J. M., & Agnew, C. R. (1998). The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5(4), 357\u2013387. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00177.x","journal-title":"Personal Relationships"},{"key":"3375_CR25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102601","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2021.102601","volume":"149","author":"M Skjuve","year":"2021","unstructured":"Skjuve, M., F\u00f8lstad, A., Fostervold, K. I., & Brandtzaeg, P. B. (2021). My chatbot companion\u2014A study of human-chatbot relationships. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 149, 102601. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2021.102601","journal-title":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies"},{"key":"3375_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102903","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2022.102903","volume":"168","author":"M Skjuve","year":"2022","unstructured":"Skjuve, M., F\u00f8lstad, A., Fostervold, K. I., & Brandtzaeg, P. B. (2022). A longitudinal study of human\u2013chatbot relationships. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 168, 102903. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2022.102903","journal-title":"International Journal of Human-Computer Studies"},{"issue":"4","key":"3375_CR27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"507","DOI":"10.1111\/hcre.12091","volume":"42","author":"DH Solomon","year":"2016","unstructured":"Solomon, D. H., Knobloch, L. K., Theiss, J. A., & McLaren, R. M. (2016). Relational turbulence theory: Explaining variation in subjective experiences and communication within romantic relationships. Human Communication Research, 42(4), 507\u2013532. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/hcre.12091","journal-title":"Human Communication Research"},{"key":"3375_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"The Pandas Development Team. (2025). pandas-dev\/pandas: Pandas [Computer software]. Zenodo. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5281\/zenodo.15831829","DOI":"10.5281\/zenodo.15831829"},{"issue":"2","key":"3375_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100078","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chbah.2024.100078","volume":"2","author":"LM Vowels","year":"2024","unstructured":"Vowels, L. M., Francois-Walcott, R. R. R., & Darwiche, J. (2024a). AI in relationship counselling: Evaluating Chatgpt\u2019s therapeutic capabilities in providing relationship advice. Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, 2(2), 100078. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chbah.2024.100078","journal-title":"Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans"},{"key":"3375_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Vowels, L. M., Vowels, M. J., Sweeney, S., Hatch, S. G., & Darwiche, J. (2024). The evaluation of efficacy, feasibility, and technical outcomes of a GPT-4o-based Chatbot Amanda for relationship support: A randomized controlled trial. OSF. Preprint retrieved from https:\/\/doi.org\/10.31234\/osf.io\/q4yh7","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/q4yh7"},{"issue":"3","key":"3375_CR31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"0","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1083-6101.2003.tb00216.x","volume":"8","author":"B Wellman","year":"2003","unstructured":"Wellman, B., Quan-Haase, A., Boase, J., Chen, W., Hampton, K., D\u00edaz, I., & Miyata, K. (2003). The social affordances of the Internet for networked individualism. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 8(3), 0\u20130. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1083-6101.2003.tb00216.x","journal-title":"Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication"},{"key":"3375_CR32","unstructured":"Willoughby, B. J., Carroll, J. S., Dover, C. R., & Hakala, R. H. (2025). Counterfeit connections: The rise of romantic AI companions and AI sexualized media among the rising generation. Wheatley Institute, Brigham Young University. https:\/\/brightspotcdn.byu.edu\/a6\/a1\/c3036cf14686accdae72a4861dd1\/counterfeit-connections-report.pdf"},{"key":"3375_CR33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Xie, T., & Pentina, I. (2022). Attachment theory as a framework to understand relationships with social chatbots: A case study of replika. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.24251\/HICSS.2022.258","DOI":"10.24251\/HICSS.2022.258"},{"key":"3375_CR34","unstructured":"Zao-Sanders, M. (2025, April 9). How people are really using Gen AI in 2025. Harvard Business Review. https:\/\/hbr.org\/2025\/04\/how-people-are-really-using-gen-ai-in-2025"},{"key":"3375_CR35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Zhang, Y., Zhao, D., Hancock, J. T., Kraut, R., & Yang, D. (2025). The rise of AI companions: How human-chatbot relationships influence well-being. Preprint retrieved from No. arXiv:2506.12605. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.2506.12605","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.2506.12605"}],"container-title":["Archives of Sexual Behavior"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s10508-025-03375-0.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10508-025-03375-0","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s10508-025-03375-0.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T17:22:48Z","timestamp":1782321768000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s10508-025-03375-0"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"references-count":37,"alternative-id":["3375"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10508-025-03375-0","relation":{},"ISSN":["0004-0002","1573-2800"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0004-0002","type":"print"},{"value":"1573-2800","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"assertion":[{"value":"22 August 2025","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"19 November 2025","order":2,"name":"revised","label":"Revised","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"21 November 2025","order":3,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"24 June 2026","order":4,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"All procedures were approved by the University of Roehampton ethics committee Research Ethics Committee. Participation was voluntary, and participants could withdraw at any time; all were provided with debrief and contact information for support services.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Dr. Simon Dub\u00e9 consults and acts as scientific director for le Shaw\u2014the International Sexual Health & Wellness Research Institute (Byborg Enterprises). The employer was not involved in data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the results. Dr. Laura Vowels is a Guest Editor for the Artificial Intelligence and Sexuality Special Section at the\n                      Archives of Sexual Behavior\n                      .","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflict of interest"}}]}}