Let Me Introduce Myself-Using Self-Disclosure as a Social Cue for Health Care Robots

Olivia Herzog, Katharina Rogner

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

In health care, social care robots might approach humans more closely and sensitively than ever before. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that patients trust and accept them. Since hospital stays often offer only little time to gain experience interacting with a robot, it is important to identify strategies to strengthen the building of trust right from the first contact. One construct promoting trust in human-human interaction is self-disclosure. The aim of this study is to examine whether it also has a trust-promoting effect in human-robot interaction. Therefore, a study was conducted where subjects experienced a hospital scenario: A social care robot introduced itself, either just listing its tasks or additionally sharing personal information about itself. It was investigated whether a self-disclosing care robot is perceived as more trustworthy, anthropomorphic, likeable, and perceived as mindful, as well as more likely to be accepted than a robot that did not do so. A content analysis of the reasons for acceptance was conducted, as well as a semantic analysis of the adjectives used to describe the robot. The quantitative analysis revealed no significant difference between the introductions for the variables trust, acceptance, anthropomorphism, likeability, and mind perception. Descriptive data indicate a possible positive impact of self-disclosure on acceptance and likeability. In the self-disclosure condition, trust in technology was most often cited as a reason for accepting the robot. In the low self-disclosure condition, concerns about possible errors of the robot were mentioned most often. The most frequent reason for acceptance was a potential relief for nursing staff.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRO-MAN 2022 - 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
Subtitle of host publicationSocial, Asocial, and Antisocial Robots
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1358-1364
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781728188591
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2022 - Napoli, Italy
Duration: 29 Aug 20222 Sep 2022

Publication series

NameRO-MAN 2022 - 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication: Social, Asocial, and Antisocial Robots

Conference

Conference31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2022
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityNapoli
Period29/08/222/09/22

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Let Me Introduce Myself-Using Self-Disclosure as a Social Cue for Health Care Robots'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this