Building on the notion that people respond to media as if they were real, switching off a robot which exhibits lifelike behavior implies an interesting situation. In an experimental lab study with a 2x2 between-subjects-design (N = 85), people were given the choice to switch off a robot with which they had just interacted. The style of the interaction was either social (mimicking human behavior) or functional (displaying machinelike behavior). Additionally, the robot either voiced an objection against being switched off or it remained silent. Results show that participants rather let the robot stay switched on when the robot objected. After the functional interaction, people evaluated the robot as less likeable, which in turn led to a reduced stress experience after the switching off situation. Furthermore, individuals hesitated longest when they had experienced a functional interaction in combination with an objecting robot. This unexpected result might be due to the fact that the impression people had formed based on the task-focused behavior of the robot conflicted with the emotional nature of the objection.
Do a robot’s social skills and its objection discourage interactants from switching the robot off?
2018-07-31
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
S.P. spends $73,728 to discourage travel
Engineering Index Backfile | 1943
Tema Archive | 1995
|Does subway proximity discourage automobility? Evidence from Beijing
Elsevier | 2016
|Does subway proximity discourage automobility? Evidence from Beijing
Online Contents | 2016
|