The Robot-Gender Divide: How and Why Men and Women Differ in Their Attitudes Toward Social Robots

Abstract

Recent developments foretell that social robots will soon become an integral part of everyday life, offering companionship and intimate closeness of different kinds. While research thus far is limited in scope and data, the current research offers two studies into how and why gender affects social robots’ acceptance among European and American participants. Study 1 ( N = 26,344) is used to identify overall patterns, while Study 2 ( N = 426), divided into quantitative and qualitative analyses, is used to investigate specific differences in accepting four types of robots: helpers, companions, lovers, and sex partners. Results show that women have significantly less positive attitudes toward social robots as lovers and sex partners than men. The qualitative analyses of Study 2 show that this is due to women seeing such robots more negatively in terms of social norms, psychological health, morality, and functionality. The study further offers an axis system, on which attitudes toward robots can be theorized and examined.