A Cross-Cultural Comparison on Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Towards Artificial Agents

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Robotics

Background:

• Previous research on cross-cultural attitudes towards artificial agents often relied solely on self-report measures, leading to confusion.
• Understanding cultural influences on both explicit and implicit attitudes towards robots and avatars is crucial for human-robot interaction design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of cultural background (Japanese vs. Dutch) on explicit and implicit attitudes towards robots.
• To examine how robot embodiment influences these attitudes across different cultures.

Main Methods:

• Employed the Negative Attitudes Towards Robots Scale (NARS) for explicit attitudes and the Implicit Association Test (IAT) for implicit attitudes.
• Conducted two experiments with a combined sample of 669 Japanese and Dutch participants.
• Assessed attitudes towards robots with varying body types.

Main Results:

• Japanese participants exhibited more positive explicit attitudes towards robots compared to Dutch participants.
• No significant cultural differences were observed in implicit attitudes towards robots.
• Implicit preference for humans was moderate in both groups and unaffected by culture or robot embodiment.

Conclusions:

• Cultural differences in attitudes towards robots are primarily evident at the explicit level, not the implicit level.
• Robot embodiment does not significantly alter implicit preferences across cultures.
• Findings highlight the importance of considering cultural nuances in explicit human-robot interactions.