TY - JOUR
T1 - Making sense of social robots
T2 - a structural analysis of the layperson's social representation of robots
AU - Piçarra, N.
AU - Giger, J. C.
AU - Pochwatko, G.
AU - Gonçalves, G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper is financed by National Funds provided by FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology through project UID/SOC/04020/2013.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Introduction Given their novelty, social robots (i.e., robots using natural language, displaying and recognizing emotions) will generate uncertainty among users. Social representations allow making sense of the new, drawing from existing knowledge. Objective A free association questionnaire was administered to 212 Portuguese adults to identify the social representation of robot. Method Data was analysed with EVOC 2000 and SIMI 2000 software. Results The social representation of robot is organized around the ideas of technology, help and future. Differences in the representation according to age, gender and level of education where also identified. Conclusion The social representation of robot is marked by the conception of it as a tool. This contrasts with the concept of social robots as social agents. Implications for social robot's acceptance are discussed.
AB - Introduction Given their novelty, social robots (i.e., robots using natural language, displaying and recognizing emotions) will generate uncertainty among users. Social representations allow making sense of the new, drawing from existing knowledge. Objective A free association questionnaire was administered to 212 Portuguese adults to identify the social representation of robot. Method Data was analysed with EVOC 2000 and SIMI 2000 software. Results The social representation of robot is organized around the ideas of technology, help and future. Differences in the representation according to age, gender and level of education where also identified. Conclusion The social representation of robot is marked by the conception of it as a tool. This contrasts with the concept of social robots as social agents. Implications for social robot's acceptance are discussed.
KW - Acceptance of technology
KW - Social representation
KW - Social robots
KW - Structural analyses
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994472195&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.erap.2016.07.001
DO - 10.1016/j.erap.2016.07.001
M3 - Article
SN - 1162-9088
VL - 66
SP - 277
EP - 289
JO - Revue Européenne de Psychologie Appliquée
JF - Revue Européenne de Psychologie Appliquée
IS - 6
ER -