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The findings partially supported the anthropomorphism effects on learners\u2019 affective-motivational states insofar as the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson evoked a significantly greater change of positive affect but did not differently affect intrinsic motivation and learning outcome than the non-anthropomorphized version. Concerning cognitive load, anthropomorphism led to significantly lower perceived difficulty regarding the learning topic (intrinsic load), which conforms with most emotional design findings. There was a marginal trend in which learners engaged longer with the anthropomorphized than the non-anthropomorphized multimedia lesson. This study offers insights on anthropomorphism in multimedia learning that extends to cultural factors unique to Asian learners and information technology subject domain. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed through the lens of cognitive-affective theory of learning with media, integrated cognitive affective model of learning with multimedia, and cognitive load theory. Future directions concerning anthropomorphism research in the multimedia learning context are addressed in this paper.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1186\/s40561-022-00187-w","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,15]],"date-time":"2022-01-15T12:02:43Z","timestamp":1642248163000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Anthropomorphizing malware, bots, and servers with human-like images and dialogues: the emotional design effects in a multimedia learning environment"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0153-8649","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tze Wei","family":"Liew","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Wei Ming","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Meng Chew","family":"Leow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Su-Mae","family":"Tan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"187_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"429","DOI":"10.1177\/0735633116672057","volume":"55","author":"AM Ali","year":"2017","unstructured":"Ali, A. 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