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-2026-2694
version: 1
kind: certified
reason: Certified into the record
timestamp: 2026-11-12T17:01:33.859550Z
status: published
lens: trace
sector: health
headline: The Role Of Self-Referential Social Cues and Small Talk In Large Language Model-Based Health Coaching: Enhancing Anthropomorphism and User Trust
dek: This paper investigates the role of anthropomorphic design in Large Language Models (LLMs), particularly in the context of lifestyle behavior change coaching. This study examines how specific verbal social cues – namely small talk and self-referential social cues – affect user perceptions of anthropomorphism, trust, and eeriness. Findings from a 2x2 experiment show that self-referential social cues enhance perceptions of anthropomorphism, which in turn positively influence user trust. At the same time, the combi…
gain_title: In a 2x2 experiment on an LLM lifestyle-coaching chatbot, self-referential social cues raised users' perception of the coach as humanlike, which in turn increased their trust in it.
problem_title: In the same 2x2 lifestyle-coaching experiment, combining self-referential cues with small talk had adverse effects on user perceptions, suggesting an uncanny valley effect in text-based chat.
trace_subject: Verbal social cues in LLM-based lifestyle behavior change coaching
gain_reading: In a 2x2 experiment on an LLM lifestyle-coaching chatbot, self-referential social cues raised users' perception of the coach as humanlike, which in turn increased their trust in it.
gain_evidence: self-referential social cues enhance perceptions of anthropomorphism, which in turn positively influence user trust
problem_reading: In the same 2x2 lifestyle-coaching experiment, combining self-referential cues with small talk had adverse effects on user perceptions, suggesting an uncanny valley effect in text-based chat.
problem_evidence: the combined use self-referential social cues and small talk can have adverse effects, suggesting a potential uncanny valley effect in text-based interactions
quick_read: A 2x2 experiment tested how two verbal social cues, small talk and self-referential statements, change the way people perceive a large language model acting as a lifestyle behavior change coach. Researchers measured perceived humanlikeness, trust and eeriness.

Self-referential cues made the coach seem more humanlike, and that perception was linked to greater trust. Using those cues together with small talk produced adverse effects, which the authors read as a possible uncanny valley effect in text-based chat.

The results bear on how health and lifestyle coaching chatbots are designed: more humanlike chat does not automatically build more trust. The measures are user perceptions, not health or behavior outcomes.
limitation: 
tag: Dual reading
key_points: The study used a 2x2 experimental design crossing small talk with self-referential social cues in an LLM-based lifestyle coach. | It measured three user perceptions: anthropomorphism, trust and eeriness. | Self-referential cues increased perceived anthropomorphism. | Higher perceived anthropomorphism in turn positively influenced trust. | Self-referential cues combined with small talk had adverse effects, suggesting an uncanny valley effect in text-based interaction.
rundown: The paper examines anthropomorphic design in large language models, focusing on lifestyle behavior change coaching. It asks how verbal social cues, specifically small talk and self-referential statements, shape user perceptions of the system.

In the 2x2 experiment, self-referential cues enhanced perceptions of anthropomorphism, and this increased perceived humanlikeness positively influenced user trust. The combination of both cues, however, had adverse effects, which the authors link to a possible uncanny valley effect in text.
sources:
- peer_reviewed | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/ai_anthro/ai_anthro/5 | 2026-06-14
prev: 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

SHA-256 hash

05477ae3b11b789a1221b1da68727faf64059eae67ddb4f249cc619e1628ac2c

Previous version’s hash

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000