A recent study has found a connection between social jet lag and a heightened preference for AI evaluations in contexts such as online dating and job recruitment. Social jet lag occurs when individuals' sleep schedules are disrupted by work or other commitments, leaving them tired and anxious about social judgments.
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Researchers conducted four experiments to examine whether those experiencing social jet lag would prefer AI over human evaluators due to increased social anxiety. Participants were asked to choose between AI and human evaluations while engaging in simulated dating profiles, job applications, and outfit reviews.
The study indicated that individuals with greater social jet lag tended to choose AI evaluators more often, as they sought to avoid the stress associated with human judgments. Specifically, 73% of participants with social jet lag preferred AI for dating profile assessment, compared to 58.8% of those without jet lag. The perceived neutrality and objectivity of AI significantly influenced these choices; when participants believed AI to be subjective or biased, the preference for AI diminished.
AI's role in hiring processes has grown, with a 2025 report indicating that approximately 87% of companies employ AI tools for various aspects of recruitment. Similarly, organizations in online dating use algorithm-driven matching to enhance user experiences.
The findings were published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior and suggest that social anxiety heavily factors into the preference for AI evaluators. Understanding these psychological mechanisms may help in developing AI-based systems that alleviate concerns surrounding social evaluations.