Dark Romance as an AI-Mediated Experience: Identification with Characters and Attitudes towards Romantic AI

The identification with fictional characters has been widely recognized as a powerful psychological phenomenon, influencing self-perception and attitudes toward interpersonal relationships. Within this context, the dark romance genre, characterized by emotionally charged narratives involving ambivalence, power imbalances, and problematic relational behaviors, provides a unique framework for examining how engagement with such narratives impacts attitudes toward intimacy and relational norms. Concurrently, the rising prevalence of AI-mediated conversational agents introduces new dimensions to the study of emotional and romantic connections, raising critical questions about human-AI intimacy and its implications. This study sought to explore the associations between identification with dark romance characters, emotional and sexual experiences involving AI systems, and attitudes toward problematic relational behaviors. A sample of 139 Romanian participants was recruited to investigate these dynamics. Participants completed the Character Identification Scale, the Experiences in Human–AI Relationships Scale (EHARS), selected subscales of the Intimate Partner Violence Attitude Scale–Revised (IPVAS-R), and newly developed measures assessing AI sexual satisfaction, emotional support provided by AI, positive attitudes toward romantic AI entities, and recognition of relational red flags. Mediation analyses indicated that identification with dark romance characters was indirectly associated with greater AI sexual satisfaction through more positive attitudes toward romantic AI, supporting a full mediation model. In contrast, identification did not mediate the relationship between AI emotional support and AI sexual satisfaction, which was characterized by a strong direct association.Moderation analyses revealed that recognition of relational red flags significantly attenuated the positive association between AI sexual satisfaction and victims' acceptance of abusive behaviors, functioning as a protective cognitive factor. No significant association was observed between AI sexual satisfaction and victims' acceptance of physical violence. Overall, the findings suggest that narrative identification and AI-related intimacy are linked through attitudinal mechanisms, while awareness of relational red flags plays a crucial role in limiting the normalization of abusive relational dynamics. These results highlight the importance of examining both media-based identification processes and cognitive protective factors in understanding emerging forms of human–AI intimacy.

dark romance, AI for sexual satisfaction, violence and abuse in couple, recognition of redflags

1. Babu, J., Joseph, D., Kumar, R., Alexander, E., Sasi, R. K., & Joseph, J. (2025). Emotional AI and the rise of pseudo-intimacy: Are we trading authenticity for algorithmic affection? Frontiers in Psychology, 16. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1679324 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Bigey, M. (2024). Reading dark romance: The ambiguities of a fascinating genre. DOI: 10.64628/aak.sc3tdt766 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Black, J. E., Helmy, Y., Robson, O., & Barnes, J. (2018). Who can resist a villain? Morality, Machiavellianism, imaginative resistance and liking for dark fictional characters. Poetics, 74, 101344. DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2018.12.005 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Chu, M. D., Gerard, P., Pawar, K., Bickham, C., & Lerman, K. (2025). Illusions of intimacy: Emotional attachment and emerging psychological risks in human–AI relationships. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2505.11649 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Döring, N., & Mohseni, M. R. (2025). Anti-AI bias toward couple images and couple counseling: Findings from two experiments. Archives of Sexual Behavior. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-025-03318-9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Döring, N., Le, T. D., Vowels, L. M., Vowels, M. J., & Marcantonio, T. L. (2024). The impact of artificial intelligence on human sexuality: A five-year literature review 2020–2024. Current Sexual Health Reports, 17(1). DOI: 10.1007/s11930-024-00397-y [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Earp, B. D., Mann, S. P., Aboy, M., Awad, E., Betzler, M., Botes, M., Calcott, R., Caraccio, M., Chater, N., Coeckelbergh, M., Constantinescu, M., Dabbagh, H., Devlin, K., Xiao-jun, D., Dranseika, V., Everett, J. A. C., Fan, R., Feroz, F., Francis, K., … Clark, M. S. (2025). Relational norms for human–AI cooperation. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2502.12102 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Gavin, S. M. (2021). The influence of media violence on intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. DOI: 10.1177/08862605211018144 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Glomb, K., Sekulak, M., Augustyn, A., & Michałkiewicz, N. (2025). Does love forgive all? The role of romantic love narratives in the legitimization of intimate partner violence. Psychology, Crime & Law. DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2025.2529443 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Grassini, S. (2023). Development and validation of the AI attitude scale (AIAS-4): A brief measure of general attitude toward artificial intelligence. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1191628. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Ho, J. Q. H., Hu, M., Chen, X., & Hartanto, A. (2025). Potential and pitfalls of romantic artificial intelligence companions: A systematic review. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 19, 100715. DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100715 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Igartua, J. J. (2010). Identification with characters and narrative persuasion through fictional feature films. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Kim, J., Merrill, K., & Collins, C. (2023). Investigating the importance of social presence on intentions to adopt an AI romantic partner. Communication Research Reports, 40(1), 11. DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2022.2159800 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J., Fiskaali, A., Høgh‐Olesen, H., Johnson, J. A., Smith, M., & Clasen, M. (2020). Do dark personalities prefer dark characters? A personality psychological approach to positive engagement with fictional villainy. Poetics, 85, 101511. DOI: 10.1016/j.poetic.2020.101511 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Kraxenberger, M., Knoop, C. A., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). Who reads contemporary erotic novels and why? Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8(1). DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00764-3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Liu, A. R., Pataranutaporn, P., & Maes, P. (2025). The heterogeneous effects of AI companionship: An empirical model of chatbot usage and loneliness and a typology of user archetypes. Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI Ethics and Society, 8(2), 1585. DOI: 10.1609/aies.v8i2.36658 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Maas, M. K., & Bonomi, A. E. (2020). Love hurts? Identifying abuse in the virgin–beast trope of popular romantic fiction. Journal of Family Violence, 36(4), 511. DOI: 10.1007/s10896-020-00206-9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Manoli, A., Pauketat, J. V. T., Ladak, A., Noh, H., Hwang, A. H., & Anthis, J. R. (2025). “She’s like a person but better”: Characterizing companion-assistant dynamics in human–AI relationships. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2510.15905 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Manzini, A., Keeling, G., Alberts, L., Vallor, S., Morris, M. R., & Gabriel, I. (2024). The code that binds us: Navigating the appropriateness of human–AI assistant relationships. Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI Ethics and Society, 7, 943. DOI: 10.1609/aies.v7i1.31694 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Massa, N., Bisconti, P., & Nardi, D. (2022). The psychological implications of companion robots: A theoretical framework and an experimental setup. International Journal of Social Robotics, 15(12), 2101. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-021-00846-x [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Moss, L. (2022). The medium and the message: An investigation of mainstream media use, relationship scripts, and intimate partner violence among Black adolescents. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Pang, C. C., Gao, Y., Wang, X., & Hui, P. (2026). The AI amplifier effect: Defining human–AI intimacy and romantic relationships with conversational AI. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2603.08084 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Pataranutaporn, P., Karny, S., Archiwaranguprok, C., Albrecht, C., Liu, A. R., & Maes, P. (2025). “My boyfriend is AI”: A computational analysis of human–AI companionship in Reddit’s AI community. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2509.11391 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Saracini, C., Cornejo-Plaza, M. I., & Cippitani, R. (2025). Techno-emotional projection in human–GenAI relationships: A psychological and ethical conceptual perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1662206 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Scaravelli, G. (2025). BookTok and dark romance. Gaudeamus: Journal of the Faculty of Letters. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Shank, D. B., Koike, M., & Loughnan, S. (2025). Artificial intimacy: Ethical issues of AI romance. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 29(6), 499. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2025.02.007 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Taccini, F., & Mannarini, S. (2024). News media representation of intimate partner violence: A systematic review. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. DOI: 10.1007/s13178-023-00922-z [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Thobaiti, F. A. (2022). Portraying the male abuser in contemporary women’s fiction. ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries, 19(2), 197. DOI: 10.4312/elope.19.2.197-210 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Toplu Demirtaş, E., Hatipoğlu-Sümer, Z., & Fincham, F. D. (2017). Intimate partner violence in Turkey: The Turkish intimate partner violence attitude scale-revised. Journal of Family Violence, 32(3), 349–356. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Tschopp, M., Gieselmann, M., & Sassenberg, K. (2023). Servant by default? How humans perceive their relationship with conversational AI. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 17(3). DOI: 10.5817/cp2023-3-9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Wang, X., Pang, C. C., & Pan, H. (2025). “My dataset of love”: A preliminary mixed-method exploration of human–AI romantic relationships. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.1145/3757532 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Yang, F., & Oshio, A. (2025). Using attachment theory to conceptualize and measure the experiences in human–AI relationships. Current Psychology. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Yuan, Y., Zhang, J., Aledavood, T., Zhang, R., & Saha, K. (2025). Mental health impacts of AI companions: Triangulating social media quasi-experiments, user perspectives, and relational theory. arXiv. DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2509.22505 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Zhang, R., Han, L., Han, M., Zhan, J., Gan, H. M., & Lee, Y. (2024). The dark side of AI companionship: A taxonomy of harmful algorithmic behaviors in human–AI relationships. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2410.20130 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Zhang, Y., Zhao, D., Hancock, J. T., Kraut, R. E., & Yang, D. (2025). The rise of AI companions: How human–chatbot relationships influence well-being. arXiv (Cornell University). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2506.12605 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Zhou, Y. (2025). From pseudo-intimacy to cyber romance: A study of human–AI companions, emotion shaping, and engagement practices. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Comparative Study of Adjustment Level, Parental Income and Academic Achievement of Adolescent Girls
• Increase in STIs among Adolescents in Masvingo District
• A Correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) and Emotional Disposition of Teacher Educators in Hyderabad District
• Ear Piercing Behaviour and Self-Esteem among Male University Students in Nigeria
• A Study of Religiosity and Psychological Well-Being