Using robots at work during the COVID-19 crisis evokes passion decay: Evidence from field and experimental studies

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Human-Robot Interaction
• Psychology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated robot integration into workplaces for efficiency and health.
• This integration may lead to increased work routinization and standardization.
• The impact on employee passion and withdrawal behaviors requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of human-robot interaction on employee passion.
• To examine the relationship between passion decay and withdrawal behaviors.
• To identify individual differences, such as openness to experience, that may moderate this relationship.

Main Methods:

• Developed and tested a theoretical model based on the passion decay model.
• Conducted a multi-source, multi-wave field study in Hong Kong (Study 1).
• Performed a simulation-based experiment in the United States (Study 2).

Main Results:

• Increased human-robot interaction was associated with a decay in employee passion.
• Passion decay predicted increased withdrawal behaviors from both work and family domains.
• Employees higher in openness to experience exhibited less passion decay when interacting with robots.

Conclusions:

• Human-robot collaboration can negatively impact employee passion and increase withdrawal.
• Openness to experience acts as a protective factor against passion decay in human-robot work environments.
• Organizations should consider individual differences when implementing robot-employee integration to mitigate negative consequences.