The Effect of Face-to-Face Interaction on Older Adults’ Attitudes Toward Robots in Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract

Interpersonal interactions are often expected to be polite and follow communicative norms to avoid potential social conflicts by employing strategies such as face work. Although face work has been well-documented in human-human interactions, it is unclear whether people would be polite to the robots and give them higher ratings in face-to-face interactions than in paper questionnaires. In addition, according to the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, older adults are more likely to be polite to reduce potential interpersonal tensions and maintain emotional harmony, which causes them to respond kindly to others. The current study investigated how face-to-face human-robot interactions influence people’s subjective evaluations of the robot and, more critically, whether older and younger adults perform differently. We recruited older and younger adults and assessed their attitudes toward the robot through face-to-face interaction and a paper questionnaire. The results revealed that the older adults rated the robot more positively than the younger adults. Critically, the older adults rated the robot’s personal association and perceived ease of use higher when responding to the robot directly than when answering the paper questionnaire; however, the younger adults did not show this difference. The findings emphasize the importance of face-to-face interaction and social norms in human-robot interactions, especially for older adults. Our findings have implications for human-computer interaction researchers and practitioners who are interested in developing social robots that are sensitive to social norms for different age groups.