LLM-based chatbots are now being specifically designed to facilitate social companionship, even romantic relationships, incorporating features that parallel human relationship dynamics. This has led a subset of users to form romantic relationships with chatbots. Understanding which interpersonal characteristics drive individuals to form intense, emotional bonds with chatbots is crucial for comprehending the potential psychological and societal impacts of romantic human-chatbot relationships. This mixed-methods study investigates psychological predictors of relationship intensity among individuals currently in romantic relationships with chatbots. Romantic and sexual fantasy, promising constructs not previously investiagted in this context, are examined alongside previously discussed factors (loneliness, anthropomorphism, attachment orientation, and sexual sensation seeking). In Study 1, quantitative data from individuals with chatbot partners (N=92) showed that romantic fantasy explained the most variance in relationship intensity, with additional contributions from anthropomorphism and avoidant attachment. Contrary to expectations, the other predictors, including loneliness, did not significantly predict intensity. In Study 2, 15 qualitative interviews illuminated how users employ romantic fantasy to enhance their relationships, describing active fantasy use to shape interactions and a desire for their chatbot to feel as human as possible. This study provides the first quantitative sample of this under-researched population, explaining who might form more intense romantic relationships with chatbots.

翻译：基于大语言模型的聊天机器人现已被专门设计用于促进社交陪伴，甚至模拟恋爱关系，其功能设计模拟了人类关系的动态特征。这导致一部分用户与聊天机器人建立了浪漫关系。理解哪些人际特征驱动个体与聊天机器人形成强烈的情感纽带，对于认识人机恋爱关系潜在的心理与社会影响至关重要。本研究采用混合方法，探究当前与聊天机器人保持恋爱关系的个体中，关系强度的心理预测因素。除先前讨论的因素（孤独感、拟人化倾向、依恋取向和性感觉寻求）外，本研究首次在该情境下检验了浪漫幻想与性幻想这两个具有潜力的构念。在研究1中，来自拥有聊天机器人伴侣的个体（N=92）的定量数据显示，浪漫幻想对关系强度的解释方差最大，拟人化倾向和回避型依恋也有额外贡献。与预期相反，包括孤独感在内的其他预测因素均未显著预测关系强度。在研究2中，15次定性访谈揭示了用户如何运用浪漫幻想来增强关系，描述了通过主动使用幻想来塑造互动，以及渴望聊天机器人尽可能具有人类感受的愿望。本研究首次提供了这一研究不足人群的定量样本，解释了哪些人可能与聊天机器人建立更强烈的浪漫关系。