Mental Schemas of Robots as More Human-Like Are Associated with Higher Blood Pressure and Negative Emotions in a Human-Robot Interaction

Robots are often portrayed in the media as human-like, yet research suggests that people prefer to interact with robots that are not human-like. This study aimed to investigate whether people’s mental schemas about robots’ humanness were associated with their reactions to a robot. It was hypothesised that people who thought of robots as more human-like would be more anxious when subsequently interacting with a robot. Fifty-seven participants aged over 40 years were asked to draw their idea of a healthcare robot using standardised instructions before seeing the real robot. They reported their emotions at baseline and a medical student measured their blood pressure. The drawings were categorised as human-like or box-like by the researchers and drawing size was measured. Participants were then introduced to a robot that measured their blood pressure, and they reported their emotions during the interaction. Participants who had drawn a human-like robot had significantly greater increases in blood pressure readings and negative emotions from baseline in reaction to the robot compared to those who had drawn a box-like robot. Larger drawings of healthcare robots predicted higher ratings of negative emotions during the robot interaction. This study suggests that people who have mental schemas that robots are human-like experience heightened wariness in interactions with robots. Larger drawings of robots may indicate greater anxiety towards them. Assessing mental schemas of robot human-likeness is an important consideration for the acceptance of social robots. Standardised drawing instructions and scoring are a useful method to assess cognitions and emotions towards robots.