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How do older adults react to social robots' offspring-like voices
1Business and Tourism School, Sichuan Agricultural University, 288, Jianshe Road, Dujiangyan, 611830, China.
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|November 27, 2024
Summary
Older adults are more likely to accept social robots with offspring-like voices, especially those that sound like grandchildren. Social identity and spatial distance influence this acceptance, guiding robot design for better human-robot interaction.
Area of Science:
- Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
- Gerontology
- Psychology
Background:
- Social robots are increasingly developed to combat loneliness in older adults, particularly those separated from family.
- Existing research often focuses on visual aspects of human-robot interaction, neglecting auditory cues.
- Understanding the impact of voice characteristics is crucial for enhancing social robot acceptance among the elderly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how and why offspring-like voices influence older adults' acceptance of social robots.
- To explore the mediating role of social identity and the moderating role of spatial distance in this acceptance.
- To provide insights for designing social robots that better resonate with older adults' preferences.
Main Methods:
- Conducted three scenario-based studies with a large sample of cognitively intact older adults.
- Focused on the auditory perspective of human-robot interaction, specifically voice characteristics.
- Analyzed the correlation between voice type, social identity, spatial distance, and robot acceptance.
Main Results:
- A significant positive correlation was found between offspring-like voices and older adults' acceptance of social robots.
- Social identity mediated the relationship between voice type and robot acceptance.
- Spatial distance positively moderated both direct and indirect effects; grandchildren-like voices showed the highest acceptance.
Conclusions:
- Offspring-like voices, particularly those resembling grandchildren, enhance older adults' acceptance of social robots.
- Social identity and spatial distance are key factors influencing the effectiveness of voice-based social robot design.
- Findings contribute to social identity theory and similarity attraction paradigm, informing practical social robot development.
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