The exact text we saved

This is the version exactly as it was saved, character for character. The SHA-256 hash below is a 64-character code worked out from that text. Run the same text through SHA-256 and you get the same code; change a single letter and the code comes out completely different. Each version also stores the previous version’s hash, which chains them together so no version can be swapped out quietly.

TRUVACE RECORD VERSION
record: TRV-2026-2680
version: 1
kind: certified
reason: Certified into the record
timestamp: 2026-11-12T17:00:07.373363Z
status: published
lens: g_space
sector: health
headline: How Empathic Cues Influence Persuasion: The Mediating Role of Perceived Capacity to Feel and the Moderating Role of Message Narrativity
dek: This study investigates how empathic cues displayed by an AI chatbot influence perceptions of the chatbot’s mental capacities and persuasive outcomes, and whether these effects vary as a function of message narrativity in the context of mental health care. Using an online experiment (N = 716) across two issues (social isolation and anxiety), we found that in the social isolation context, a chatbot’s expression of empathy increased its perceived capacity to feel, which, in turn, was positively associated with att…
gain_title: In an online experiment of 716 people, a chatbot's expression of empathy raised its perceived capacity to feel in the social isolation scenario, which was linked to more positive attitudes toward its recommendations.
problem_title: (none)
trace_subject: (none)
gain_reading: In an online experiment of 716 people, a chatbot's expression of empathy raised its perceived capacity to feel in the social isolation scenario, which was linked to more positive attitudes toward its recommendations.
gain_evidence: in the social isolation context, a chatbot’s expression of empathy increased its perceived capacity to feel, which, in turn, was positively associated with attitudes toward the chatbot’s recommendations
problem_reading: (none)
problem_evidence: (none)
quick_read: An online experiment with 716 participants tested how empathic cues from an AI chatbot shape perceptions of its mental capacities and its persuasiveness in mental health care. The study covered two issues: social isolation and anxiety.

In the social isolation scenario, empathic expression increased the chatbot's perceived capacity to feel, and that perception was positively associated with attitudes toward its recommendations. The pattern differed in the social anxiety scenario, where the effect of empathy depended on how narrative the chatbot's message was.

The authors say the results offer insights into how AI systems can communicate more effectively in mental health care, though the measured outcomes are perceptions and attitudes rather than health results.
limitation: The effect of empathy was not consistent across issues: in the social anxiety context it depended on message narrativity, so the social isolation result does not hold across both scenarios.
tag: Evidence-backed gain
key_points: The experiment included 716 participants and was run online. | Two mental health issues were tested: social isolation and anxiety. | In the social isolation context, chatbot empathy increased perceived capacity to feel. | Perceived capacity to feel was positively associated with attitudes toward the chatbot's recommendations. | In the social anxiety context, empathy raised perceived capacity to feel only when messages were low in narrativity. | Without empathic expression, higher message narrativity increased perceived capacity to feel in the anxiety context.
rundown: The study examined an AI chatbot in a mental health care setting. Researchers varied whether the chatbot displayed empathic cues and how narrative its messages were, then measured how participants perceived its mental capacities and how they viewed its recommendations.

In the social isolation condition, the pathway was straightforward: empathy increased perceived capacity to feel, and that perception was positively associated with attitudes toward the recommendations.

In the social anxiety condition, results were conditional. Empathy increased perceived capacity to feel only for low-narrativity messages, while narrativity itself increased perceived capacity to feel when the chatbot did not express empathy.
sources:
- peer_reviewed | International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction | https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2026.2708470 | 2026-08-10
prev: 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

SHA-256 hash

1157409adb1ea4085a784cfe82e1250cc3722349b9b1ad34cbe7bd15798dcc83

Previous version’s hash

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000