Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale
The idea of artificially created social robots has a long tradition. Today, attitudes towards robots play a central role in the field of healthcare. Our research aimed to develop a scale to measure attitudes towards robots. The survey consisted of nine questions on attitudes towards robots, sociodem...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/12/3/286 |
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| author | Daniel B. Niewrzol Thomas Ostermann |
| author_facet | Daniel B. Niewrzol Thomas Ostermann |
| author_sort | Daniel B. Niewrzol |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The idea of artificially created social robots has a long tradition. Today, attitudes towards robots play a central role in the field of healthcare. Our research aimed to develop a scale to measure attitudes towards robots. The survey consisted of nine questions on attitudes towards robots, sociodemographic questions, the SWOP-K9, measuring self-efficacy, optimism, and pessimism, and the BFI-10, measuring personality dimensions. Structural relations between the items were detected using principal components analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation. Correlations and Analysis of Variance were used for external validation. In total, 214 participants (56.1% female, mean age: 30.8 ± 14.4 years) completed the survey. The PCA found two main components, “Robot as a helper and assistant” (RoHeA) and “Robot as an equal partner” (RoEqP), with four items each explaining 53.2% and 17.5% of the variance with a Cronbach’s α of 0.915 and 0.768. In the personality traits, “Conscientiousness” correlated weakly with both subscales and “Extraversion” correlated with RoHeA, while none the subscales of the SWOP-K9 significantly correlated with RoEqP or RoHeA. Male participants scored significantly higher than female participants. Our survey yielded a stable and convergent two-factor instrument that exhibited convincing validity and complements other findings in the field. The ASRS can easily be used to describe attitudes towards social robots in human society. Further research, however, should be carried out to investigate the discriminant and convergent validity of the ASRS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:56:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3dc4038b15e14f96a34f4b4c8067e684 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:56:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-3dc4038b15e14f96a34f4b4c8067e6842024-02-09T15:12:26ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322024-01-0112328610.3390/healthcare12030286Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots ScaleDaniel B. Niewrzol0Thomas Ostermann1Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, 58452 Witten, GermanyDepartment of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, 58452 Witten, GermanyThe idea of artificially created social robots has a long tradition. Today, attitudes towards robots play a central role in the field of healthcare. Our research aimed to develop a scale to measure attitudes towards robots. The survey consisted of nine questions on attitudes towards robots, sociodemographic questions, the SWOP-K9, measuring self-efficacy, optimism, and pessimism, and the BFI-10, measuring personality dimensions. Structural relations between the items were detected using principal components analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation. Correlations and Analysis of Variance were used for external validation. In total, 214 participants (56.1% female, mean age: 30.8 ± 14.4 years) completed the survey. The PCA found two main components, “Robot as a helper and assistant” (RoHeA) and “Robot as an equal partner” (RoEqP), with four items each explaining 53.2% and 17.5% of the variance with a Cronbach’s α of 0.915 and 0.768. In the personality traits, “Conscientiousness” correlated weakly with both subscales and “Extraversion” correlated with RoHeA, while none the subscales of the SWOP-K9 significantly correlated with RoEqP or RoHeA. Male participants scored significantly higher than female participants. Our survey yielded a stable and convergent two-factor instrument that exhibited convincing validity and complements other findings in the field. The ASRS can easily be used to describe attitudes towards social robots in human society. Further research, however, should be carried out to investigate the discriminant and convergent validity of the ASRS.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/12/3/286social robotsattitudessurveyquestionnairevalidation |
| spellingShingle | Daniel B. Niewrzol Thomas Ostermann Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale Healthcare social robots attitudes survey questionnaire validation |
| title | Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale |
| title_full | Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale |
| title_fullStr | Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale |
| title_short | Development and Validation of the Attitudes towards Social Robots Scale |
| title_sort | development and validation of the attitudes towards social robots scale |
| topic | social robots attitudes survey questionnaire validation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/12/3/286 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT danielbniewrzol developmentandvalidationoftheattitudestowardssocialrobotsscale AT thomasostermann developmentandvalidationoftheattitudestowardssocialrobotsscale |