Keywords

human-robot-interaction, social bonds, emotional bonds, empathy

Abstract

A growing population of humans are feeling lonely and isolated and may therefore benefit from social and emotional companionship. However, other humans cannot always be available to fulfill these needs, and such in-need individuals often cannot care for pets. Therefore, we explore how robot companions may be designed to facilitate bonds with humans. Our preliminary examination of 115 participants in a scenario based quasi-experimental study suggests that humans are more likely to develop social and emotional bonds with robots when those robots are good at communicating and conveying emotions. However, robots’ anthropomorphic attributes and responsiveness to external cues were found to have no impact on bond formulation.

Original Publication Citation

Gaskin, J., Fife, PT., Rosengren, W. (2023) “How Certain Robot Attributes Influence Human-to-Robot Social and Emotional Bonds,” HICSS 2023, Hawaii

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2023

Publisher

Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Information Systems Management

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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