Negotiating Digital Identities with AI Companions: Motivations, Strategies, and Emotional Outcomes

Authors

• Renkai Ma, University of Cincinnati
• Shuo Niu, Clark UniversityFollow
• Lingyao Li, University of South Florida
• Alexander Hirth, Clark University
• Ava Brehm, Clark University
• Rowajana Behterin Barbie, Clark University

Document Type

Conference Paper

Abstract

AI companions enable deep emotional relationships by engaging a user's sense of identity, but they also pose risks like unhealthy emotional dependence. Mitigating these risks requires first understanding the underlying process of identity construction and negotiation with AI companions. Focusing on Character.AI (C.AI), a popular AI companion, we conducted an LLM-assisted thematic analysis of 22,374 online discussions on its subreddit. Using Identity Negotiation Theory as an analytical lens, we identified a three-stage process: 1) five user motivations; 2) an identity negotiation process involving three communication expectations and four identity co-construction strategies; and 3) three emotional outcomes. Our findings surface the identity work users perform as both performers and directors to co-construct identities in negotiation with C.AI. This process takes place within a socio-emotional sandbox where users can experiment with social roles and express emotions without non-human partners. Finally, we offer design implications for emotionally supporting users while mitigating the risks. © 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

Publication Title

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Publication Date

4-13-2026

ISBN

9798400722783

DOI

10.1145/3772318.3791473

Keywords

AI companion, human-AI companion interaction, identity negotiation

Repository Citation

Ma, Renkai; Niu, Shuo; Li, Lingyao; Hirth, Alexander; Brehm, Ava; and Behterin Barbie, Rowajana, "Negotiating Digital Identities with AI Companions: Motivations, Strategies, and Emotional Outcomes" (2026). Computer Science. 246.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_computer_sciences/246

APA Citation

Ma, R., Niu, S., Li, L., Hirth, A., Brehm, A., & Behterin Barbie, R. (2026, April). Negotiating Digital Identities with AI Companions: Motivations, Strategies, and Emotional Outcomes. In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-18).

Cross Post Location

Student Publications

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.