The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots
The development of social robots has the potential to address significant societal concerns, however, most people have limited experience of such technology. The present research investigated whether techniques borrowed from the psychology of intergroup relations – namely direct and extended contact...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021005235 |
| _version_ | 1818870838396452864 |
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| author | Marina Sarda Gou Thomas L. Webb Tony Prescott |
| author_facet | Marina Sarda Gou Thomas L. Webb Tony Prescott |
| author_sort | Marina Sarda Gou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The development of social robots has the potential to address significant societal concerns, however, most people have limited experience of such technology. The present research investigated whether techniques borrowed from the psychology of intergroup relations – namely direct and extended contact – affect people's attitudes towards robots. Participants were provided with either direct contact with a social robot or extended contact (these participants watched a video recorded by a friend who had met the robot) before their explicit and implicit attitudes towards robots were measured. Results indicated that direct contact affected both explicit and implicit attitudes, while extended contact affected implicit attitudes. The implication of these findings is that contact with a robot, direct or indirect, can change attitudes; much as previous research has shown that contact with a person who is a member of an out-group can change attitudes towards that group. We conclude that methods and theories from the study of human intergroup relationships can be usefully applied to understand attitudes toward social robots. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T12:13:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9d9cac84e52347138f0eafa137317276 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T12:13:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-9d9cac84e52347138f0eafa1373172762022-12-21T20:22:07ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402021-03-0173e06418The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robotsMarina Sarda Gou0Thomas L. Webb1Tony Prescott2Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, UKDepartment of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, UKDepartment of Computer Science, The University of Sheffield, UK; Corresponding author.The development of social robots has the potential to address significant societal concerns, however, most people have limited experience of such technology. The present research investigated whether techniques borrowed from the psychology of intergroup relations – namely direct and extended contact – affect people's attitudes towards robots. Participants were provided with either direct contact with a social robot or extended contact (these participants watched a video recorded by a friend who had met the robot) before their explicit and implicit attitudes towards robots were measured. Results indicated that direct contact affected both explicit and implicit attitudes, while extended contact affected implicit attitudes. The implication of these findings is that contact with a robot, direct or indirect, can change attitudes; much as previous research has shown that contact with a person who is a member of an out-group can change attitudes towards that group. We conclude that methods and theories from the study of human intergroup relationships can be usefully applied to understand attitudes toward social robots.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021005235Human-robot interactionContact theoryExtended contactAttitudesSocial robotics |
| spellingShingle | Marina Sarda Gou Thomas L. Webb Tony Prescott The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots Heliyon Human-robot interaction Contact theory Extended contact Attitudes Social robotics |
| title | The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots |
| title_full | The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots |
| title_fullStr | The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots |
| title_short | The effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots |
| title_sort | effect of direct and extended contact on attitudes towards social robots |
| topic | Human-robot interaction Contact theory Extended contact Attitudes Social robotics |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021005235 |
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