Getting in Touch: How Imagined, Actual, and Physical Contact Affect Evaluations of Robots

Although it is widely accepted that robots will be used in everyday contexts in near future, many people feel anxious and hold negative attitudes toward robots. This negative reaction might be stronger when users come into direct physical contact with them, particularly when touch is required between robots and humans, (e.g., when using robots as assistants to help elderly people at home). Intergroup contact research in social psychology has proposed various forms of contact as a means to reduce negative feelings toward outgroup members. The present study examined how Contact Type (Actual vs. Imagined) and Contact Modality (Look vs. Touch) with a NAO robot would impact attitudes toward NAO compared to a no-contact control condition. Results showed that nearly any type of contact effectively reduced negative emotions compared to the control condition. However, for participants with preexisting negative emotions toward robots, contact sometimes produced more negative attitudes. We discuss these findings and the resulting implications for future research.