Emotional Coregulation in Close Relationships with AI Agents: A Survey of ChatGPT and Replika Users

AI agents are increasingly becoming part of daily life, with advances in large language models (LLMs) enabling people to use them not only for practical tasks but also in increasingly social, relationship-oriented roles. This cross-sectional, between-subjects survey (n=48) examined whether relationships with AI agents show emotional coregulation patterns similar to those in human relationships, based on self-reports from users in friendship or romantic relationships with ChatGPT or Replika. The type of AI agent (Replika or ChatGPT) was treated as an independent variable in the analyses. Both agents offer similar conversational abilities, but Replika is presented as a virtually embodied, human-like companion, whereas ChatGPT is a text-based tool not marketed for companionship. We asked both groups of users to rate their experience with the agent in terms of emotional contagion (sharing emotions), emotional counter-regulation (balancing emotions), and affect change, as well as their perceptions of the agent's self-disclosure (sharing personal or intimate information) and human-likeness. Participants reported emotional contagion and counter-regulation with both agents. Additionally, conversations with both AI agents significantly increased positive affect and reduced negative affect, with emotional counter-regulation emerging as a key factor in affect improvement across both groups. However, human-likeness did not predict emotional coregulation or affect changes. These findings suggest AI agents can support emotional coregulation, with the agent's self-disclosure playing a role, but the contribution of virtual embodiment remains unclear.