Virtual relationships: Anthropomorphism in the digital age

For most of human history we have ascribed human‐like capacities to other entities (anthropomorphism). Recently, the digital age has created new entities: virtual agents (VAs). Increasingly, these virtual entities are complex and human‐like, specifically designed to elicit anthropomorphism from their owners and users. We employ social psychological research and theory to review how, why, and when people come to anthropomorphize VAs. Moving...