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Social robots: The influence of human and robot characteristics on acceptance

Bishop, Laura; van Maris, Anouk; Dogramadzi, Sanja; Zook, Nancy

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Authors

Laura Bishop

Nancy Zook Nancy.Zook@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Psychology



Abstract

Research in social robotics is focused on the development of robots that can provide physical and cognitive support in a socially interactive way. Whilst some studies have previously investigated the importance of user characteristics (age, gender, education, robot familiarity, mood) in the acceptance of social robots as well as the influence a robot's displayed emotion (positive, negative, neutral) has on the interaction, these two aspects are rarely combined. Therefore, this study attempts to highlight the need to consider the influence that both human and robot attributes can have on social robot acceptance. Eighty-six participants completed implicit and explicit measures of mood before viewing one of three video clips containing a positive, negative or neutral social robot (Pepper) followed byquestionnaires on robot acceptance and perception. Gender and education were not associated with acceptance; however, several constructs of the acceptance questionnaire significantly correlated with age and mood. For example, those younger and those experiencing sadness or loneliness were more dependent on the opinions of others (as measured by the social influence construct of the acceptance questionnaire). This highlights the importance of mood in the introduction of social robots into vulnerable populations. Robot familiarity also correlated with robot acceptance with those more familiar finding the robot less useful and less enjoyable, this is important as robots become more prominent in society. Displayed robot emotion significantly influenced acceptance and perception with the positive robot appearing more childlike than the negative and neutral robot, and the neutral robot the least helpful. These findings emphasise the importance of both user and robot characteristics in the successful integration of social robots.

Citation

Bishop, L., van Maris, A., Dogramadzi, S., & Zook, N. (2019). Social robots: The influence of human and robot characteristics on acceptance. Paladyn, 10(1), 346-358. https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2019-0028

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 12, 2019
Online Publication Date Oct 16, 2019
Publication Date Jan 1, 2019
Deposit Date Nov 1, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Paladyn
Print ISSN 2081-4836
Electronic ISSN 2081-4836
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 1
Pages 346-358
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2019-0028
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/4068495
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2019-0028

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