Looking Might be Deceiving: how the looking behavior of a virtual robot might influence its perceived trustworthiness

Trust is an important factor in human to human interaction. It helps us cooperate with people we might not even know. In this study, we investigated the possibility of changing the perceived trustworthiness of a robot by changing its looking behavior. To make an estimate of someone’s trustworthiness without prior interaction, people look at the appearance and movement of the interaction partner. Participants played an iterative trust game on a computer with a movie of a virtual robot playing the interaction partner. The looking behavior of this robot was manipulated to either not avoid or avoid eye contact. The reciprocation rate was also manipulated (high/low). The investment rate of the participant was used as a dependent variable as well as an explicit trust rating given on a questionnaire after the experiment. Analyses over the combination of all the rounds, showed a marginal significant effect of looking behavior on the investment rate. This effect was not present in analyses of only the first or last round of the iterative trust game. Looking behavior might therefore have an effect on the amount of perceived trustworthiness. Interaction effects of looking behavior and reciprocation rate where present. A high reciprocating robot which avoided eye contact got both higher investments as well as a higher trust rating on the questionnaire, compared to a high reciprocating robot which did not avoid eye contact. This effect was not present for a low reciprocating robot. The right combination of looking behavior and performance could therefore lead to higher perceived trustworthiness.