Exploring the influence of culture and gender on older adults' perception of polite robots

Shikhar Kumar, Samer Halloun, Eliran Itzhak, Noam Tractinsky, Galit Nimrod, Yael Edan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explored the culture and gender differences among older adults interacting with polite non-humanoid robots. We have used Lakoff theory for the polite conversational maxims. A within-subjects experiment was designed with polite and non-polite, correct and erroneous behaving robots. The polite robot employs three sub-rules ("don't impose,""give options,"and "be friendly"). A user study was conducted with older adults from two cultural backgrounds: Israeli Jewish and Arab participants. The study revealed that the participants could not differentiate between the polite behaviors when the robot was correct. They were more annoyed with a polite robot making an error as compared to a non-polite erroneous robot. Whereas gender had no impact on participants' evaluations, there were significant cultural differences between the groups: Although the Arab participants were primarily more skeptical, they enjoyed, were satisfied, and trusted the robot more than the Jewish participants. In addition, they preferred the direct non-polite behavior, whereas the Jewish participants liked the polite behavior more.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRO-MAN 2022 - 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
Subtitle of host publicationSocial, Asocial, and Antisocial Robots
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages1038-1043
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781728188591
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2022
Event31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2022 - Napoli, Italy
Duration: 29 Aug 20222 Sep 2022

Publication series

NameRO-MAN 2022 - 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication: Social, Asocial, and Antisocial Robots

Conference

Conference31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2022
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityNapoli
Period29/08/222/09/22

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Social Psychology
  • Communication
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications

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