Self-disclosure is central to mental health, and chatbots are increasingly used to elicit it by lowering the risk of social judgment. With the rapid growth of voice-based chatbots, it is crucial to understand how their voice identity shapes self-disclosure, yet this relationship remains underexplored. We address this gap through a mixed-method study that combined a 14-day in-the-wild deployment (N = 61) with post-study interviews. Participants interacted daily with chatbots that spoke in one of three voices varying in social distance: their own, a family member’s, or a stranger’s. Findings show that chatbots using the user’s own voice were rated as more attractive and sustained deeper levels of disclosure over time. Family voice chatbots prompted reflection on interpersonal relationships, where participants reported comfort in discussing some topics but reluctance in others. Together, these findings highlight voice identity as a key design lever for steering both the amount and focus of self-disclosure.

Previous research has shown that workplace social norms influence employee well-being. However, such norms vary based on the cultures in which workplaces are embedded, suggesting that cultural differences may influence perceived norms about when and where work should occur. These differences, in turn, could impact employee well-being. Accordingly, through the lenses of cultural tightness-looseness and individualism-collectivism, this paper investigates cultural differences in perceived social norms, and the relationship between those norms and hybrid workers’ well-being. We conducted a survey of 1,000 Japanese and 1,000 American hybrid workers. Results indicated that American respondents perceived stronger norms and demonstrated a higher willingness to conform to norms compared to Japanese respondents. Additionally, strong injunctive norms were positively associated with well-being among Americans but not among Japanese. Interviews (N = 24) showed that Japanese perceived injunctive norms negatively, while Americans saw them positively. We discuss implications for future remote-collaboration technologies in hybrid-work settings.

Previous studies have suggested that organizational social norms can positively affect employee well-being. However, such social norms have not been well developed during the post-COVID-19 transition to hybrid work, which combines office and remote work, and it is unclear how employees’ perceptions of social norms for hybrid work affect their well-being. In this study, we investigated the impact of social norms for hybrid work on the well-being of hybrid workers living in Japan through a mixed-method approach consisting of an online survey (n = 212) and semi-structured interviews (n = 20). The results indicate that hybrid workers who feel subject to strong social norms have lower well-being. Conversely, those who are more willing to conform to social norms have higher well-being. Given our findings, we discuss implications for the design of systems to help hybrid workers conform to organizational social norms and to improve their well-being.