Factors affecting trust in high-vulnerability human-robot interaction contexts: A structural equation modelling approach

The current research proposed and tested a structural equation model (SEM) that describes hypothesized relationships among factors affecting trust in human-robot interaction (HRI) such as trustworthiness, human-likeness, intelligence, perfect automation schema (PAS), and affect. A video stimulus depicting an autonomous guard robot interacting with humans was employed as a stimulus via Amazon's Mechanical Turk to recruit 233 participants. Human-related and robot-related metrics were found to affect trustworthiness that subsequently affected trust. In particular, ability (as a trustworthiness facet) was a dominant factor affecting trust in HRI. Integrity was found to mediate the relationships between robot- and human-related metrics and trustworthiness. This study also showed a correlation between intelligence and trustworthiness, as well as between PAS and trustworthiness. The findings of the present study have significant implications for both theory and practice on factors and levels that affect trust in HRI.