Status, identity, and territoriality: comparing human-human and human-AI encounters

Although humans’ instinct to protect their territory has always transcended physical and digital boundaries, the extension of this instinct into virtual spaces remains an unresolved mystery in today’s rapidly digitizing world. While existing research has extensively explored the relationship between psychological ownership and territorial behaviors, the regulatory role of the invader’s identity status and the type of invader (e.g., human or artificial intelligence) in shaping territorial responses remains largely unexplored. This study introduces the concept of “invaders” as a critical moderator and investigates how the identity status of the invader and the type of invader influence territorial behaviors. Drawing on social identity theory and blame attribution frameworks, we hypothesize that high-status invaders paradoxically enhance the invaded party’s identity salience, thereby strengthening territorial responses. Additionally, we propose that the nature of the invader significantly moderates territorial reactions, with human invaders eliciting stronger responses compared to AI systems, especially when AI is perceived as less intelligent or less anthropomorphic. Our findings provide new insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying territoriality, with implications for understanding consumer behavior, organizational dynamics, and human-AI interactions. This research advances the field by integrating psychological ownership with social identity theory and introducing a nuanced typology of invaders, providing a foundation for future research on the intersection of technology and territorial behavior.