Abstract
As a uniquely human manifestation of curiosity and engagement, the asking of questions for which the asker does not know the answers (definitional of respectful inquiry as opposed to testing or, speaking in the affirmative) has the potential to humanize conversation partners. Respectful inquiry on the part of non-human agents in developmental conversations can thus lead to more favorable perceptions of the interaction, including trust in technology, as well as a higher need for further problem-focused self-reflection, learning, and readiness to act on self-development. We theorize about the role of psychological needs satisfaction in this process and test the theoretical predictions empirically using two experiments with embodied conversational agents. The implications of our findings are discussed with reference to organizational science, technology use in leadership and human resource development, as well as fundamental psychological processes of humanizing and de-humanizing.