(2025) Science and education, 4, 85-91. Odessa.

Maksym Yavorskyi,
Candidate of Psychological Sciences, 
Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophical, Political and Psychological Studies, 
Cherkasy State Technological University, 
Shevchenko Boulevard 460, Cherkasy, Ukraine; 
Psychotherapist in Transactional Analysis (CTA-P, EATA),
member of the Ukrainian Association of Transactional Analysis,
member of EATA
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3464-2453

PARASOCIAL INTERACTION IN THE STRUCTURE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PERSONIFICATION AS A FORM OF CONTAMINATION IN TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the rapid development of language models and interactive algorithmic systems has led to new forms of human–AI interaction that increasingly resemble parasocial relationships described in media psychology. The ability of AI to maintain a high degree of immediacy, personalization and emotional congruence creates conditions for its anthropomorphization, which may affect the internal structure of personality. Within the framework of Transactional Analysis (TA), an important question emerges: can such interaction contribute to ego-state contamination, when the fantasies and unmet needs of the Child ego-state become integrated into the cognitive processes of the Adult ego-state? The absence of comprehensive theoretical models explaining AI personification through the lens of ego-structural mechanisms determines the necessity of such analysis. The aim of the article is to provide a theoretical justification of AI personification as a form of parasocial interaction and to identify its potential to cause contamination of the Adult ego-state by the Child ego-state within the paradigm of Transactional Analysis. The research methods include analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization of scientific literature, structural-functional analysis for identifying key characteristics of parasocial interaction, and conceptual modelling to construct a theoretical interpretation of contamination mechanisms. The study draws on both international and Ukrainian research on parasocial relationships, digital interaction psychology and Transactional Analysis. The results demonstrate that parasocial interaction with AI has a three-level structure: parasocial engagement, anthropomorphization and ego-structural integration. The latter level is associated with the risk of Adult ego-state contamination: the need for safety, acceptance, predictability and control (Child ego-state) is transferred onto the digital agent and perceived as a rational evaluation. The findings reveal an ambivalent impact on mental health. Psychotherapeutic strategies of decontamination are outlined, including ego-state mapping, psychoeducation about AI, analysis of script payoffs and the development of authentic interpersonal communication. 

cyberpsychology, psychotherapy, Transactional Analysis, artificial intelligence, parasocial interaction, contamination, personification

1. Chaplinska, Y. (2020). Osoblyvosti nasliduvannia ditmy mediaperson u parasotsialnykh stosunkakh [Features of children’s imitation of media figures in parasocial relationships]. Visnyk Kyivskoho natsionalnoho universytetu imeni Tarasa Shevchenka. Psykholohiia, 2(12), 104–108. https://doi.org/10.17721/BSP.2020.2(12).19 [in Ukrainian].
2. Chaplinska, Y. S. (2020). Parasotsialni stosunky: dity ta roboty. Shcho treba znaty batkam? [Parasocial relationships: Children and robots. What parents need to know?]. In Doshkilna osvita v konteksti idei Novoi ukrainskoi shkoly (pp. 410–422) [in Ukrainian].
3. Shlehel, L. (2025). Korotkyi slovnyk tranzaktsiinoho analizu [A concise dictionary of transactional analysis] (H. Yavorska & K. Repetii, Eds.). In trolitaTOR [in Ukrainian].
4. University of Cambridge. (2025). Cambridge Dictionary reveals Word of the Year 2025. Retrieved from https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-dictionary-reveals-word-of-the-year-2025
5. Fang, C. M., Liu, A. R., Danry, V., Lee, E. et al. How AI and Human Behaviors Shape Psychosocial Effects of Extended Chatbot Use: A Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Study. Cornell university, 2025. https://doi.org/10.48550/arX-iv.2503.17473
6. Griffin, C. E., & Powell, G. (2025). Alexa, what do you mean to me? A scoping review and model of parasocial relationship formation with smart speakers. Behaviour & Information Technology, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/014492 9X.2025.2492701
7. Horton, D., Wohl, R. R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction. Psychiatry, 19(3), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1956.11023049
8. Leith, A. P. (2021). Parasocial cues: The ubiquity of parasocial relationships on Twitch. Communication Monographs, 88(1), 111–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2020.1868544
9. Schiappa, E., Gregg, P. B., Hewes, D. E. (2005). The parasocial contact hypothesis. Communication Monographs, 72(1), 92–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363775052000342544
10. Tudor, K. (2016). Permission, protection, and potency. Transactional Analysis Journal, 46(1), 50–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0362153715617475