Can Robots Manifest Personality?: An Empirical Test of Personality Recognition, Social Responses, and Social Presence in Human–Robot Interaction

Abstract

Personality is an essential feature for creating socially interactive robots. Studies on this dimension will facilitate enhanced human-robot interaction (HRI). Using AIBO, a social robotic pet developed by Sony, we examined the issue of personality in HRI. In this gender-balanced 2 (AIBO personality: introvert vs. extrovert) by 2 (participant personality: introvert vs. extrovert) between-subject experiment (N = 48), we found that participants could accurately recognize a robot's personality based on its verbal and nonverbal behaviors. In addition, various complementarity attraction effects were found in HRI. Participants enjoyed interacting with a robot more when the robot's personality was complementary to their own personalities than when the robot's personality was similar to their own personalities. The same complementarity attraction effect was found in participants' evaluation of the robot's intelligence and social attraction. Participants' feelings of social presence during the interaction were a significant mediator for the complementarity attraction effects observed. Practical and theoretical implications of the current study for the design of social robots and the study of HRI were discussed.

Here Comes the Bad News: Doctor Robot Taking Over

“…With regard to robots, certain studies indeed find that similar personalities attract (e.g., [42]). However, others find that complementarity attracts (e.g., [23]) but this may still be in line with Media Equation if humans respond similarly to humans who complement them. In the same vein did Nass and Moon [32] assert that Computers Are Social Actors, the CASA view.…”

Sollten Assistenzroboter eine „Persönlichkeit“ haben?

“…Es konnte keinerlei signifikante Korrelation zwischen dem bevorzugtem Verhalten des Roboters und der Selbsteinschätzung der TP als intro-oderextrovertiert festgestellt werden. In der Literatur finden sich dazu sowohl Hinweise auf eine bevorzugte Übereinstimmung [21] als auch Hinweise auf eine bevorzugte Komplementarität [11] zwischen der Persönlichkeit der TP und der "Persönlichkeit" des Roboters. …”

TAME: Time-Varying Affective Response for Humanoid Robots

“…Finally, the research into robotic affect on non-humanoid platforms includes: producing emotional expressions based on the circumplex model of affect on a huggable robot Probo by Saldien et al [19]; display of affect on expressive robotic head EDDIE [20], based on the circumplex model and Ekman's FACS; expression of Extraversion and Introversion on robotic dog AIBO [21]; and a number of other related endeavors.…”

“…Based on an extensive literature review [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46], we designed expressions of Extraversion and Introversion, Positive and Negative Mood, and Emotions of Fear and Joy. Figure 12 (Left) and (Right) provides examples of static poses of Joy and Fear, respectively.…”