Robot tương tác có thể giảm bớt sự cô đơn: Các cơ chế tâm lý
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020
ICYREB 2020
LONELINESS AND THE ADOPTION OF SOCIAL ROBOTS:
EXAMINING PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS
ROBOT TƯƠNG TÁC CÓ THỂ GIẢM BỚT SỰ CÔ ĐƠN:
CÁC CƠ CHẾ TÂM LÝ
Dang Ngoc Bich,MA - Ngo Phu Thanh,MA
University of Economics and Law – Vietnam National University - HCM
Abstract
Loneliness is aversive, and it leads to compensatory consumption behaviour to restore
one’s sense of belonging. Recently, social robots are designed to socially interact with people
and evoke emotional connection. These robots are seductive as they seem “alive” and potentially
offer solutions to resolve human vulnerabilities. In this conceptual paper, we propose the psy-
chological mechanisms underlying the effect of loneliness typology (emotional and social lone-
liness) on the intention to adopt social robots by integrating existing theories. Consumers who
feel lonely might attribute social robots the ability to provide various types of social supports
typically provided by other humans and expected to alleviate loneliness. Our research makes im-
portant contributions to the literature regarding human-robot interaction as well as loneliness
and compensatory consumption literature.
Keyword : loneliness, well-being, human-robot interaction
Track : Innovation Management & New Product Development
Tóm tắt
Cô đơn là một hành vi gây phản cảm và nó dẫn đến hành vi tiêu dùng trong mỗi con người
nhằm bù đắp cảm giác thân thuộc. Gần đây, robot xã hội được thiết kế để tương tác xã hội với
con người và khơi gợi kết nối cảm xúc. Những con robot này rất quyến rũ vì chúng có vẻ “còn
sống” và có khả năng cung cấp các giải pháp để giải quyết các lỗ hổng bảo mật trong con người.
Trong bài nghiên cứu thuần về khái niệm này, chúng tôi đề xuất các cơ chế tâm lý cơ bản ảnh
hưởng của kiểu cô đơn (cô đơn về cảm xúc và xã hội) đối với ý định áp dụng robot xã hội bằng
cách tích hợp các lý thuyết hiện có. Những người tiêu dùng cảm thấy cô đơn có thể cho rằng
robot xã hội có khả năng cung cấp nhiều loại hỗ trợ xã hội khác nhau thường được cung cấp bởi
những người khác và được mong đợi để giảm bớt sự cô đơn. Nghiên cứu của chúng tôi hi vọng
sẽ có những đóng góp vào mối liên quan tương tác giữa người và robot cũng như sự cô đơn và
tài liệu về tiêu dùng bù đắp.
Từ khóa: sự cô đơn, hạnh phúc, tương tác giữa người và robot
1. Introduction
I find people willing to seriously consider robots not only as pets but as potential friends,
confidants, and even romantic partners... As dream, robots reveal our wish for relationships we
can control.
(Turkle, 2011)
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Loneliness is a serious problem in our society and is associated with various health issues
(Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010; Luo, Hawkley, Waite, and Cacioppo, 2012). People have the fun-
damental need to belong (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). When this need is threatened, people
often look for new sources of affiliation directly with other humans (Maner, DeWall, Baumeis-
ter, and Schaller, 2007) or indirectly through compensatory consumption (i.e., purchasing prod-
ucts that signal affiliation with others) (Mandel, Rucker, Levav, and Galinsky, 2017; Mead,
Baumeister, Stillman, Rawn, & Vohs, 2011; Wan, Xu, and Ding, 2014; Warburton, Williams,
and Cairns, 2006).
In recent years, social robots have entered the market and offer solutions to improve con-
sumers’ well-being. Social robots are designed to interact with humans by following social be-
haviours and norms attached to their role. Most studies in the field of technology innovation often
focus on the functional aspect to explain innovation. However, products have psychological value
beyond the mere functional value (Mandel, Rucker, Levav, and Galinsky (2017). Moreover, be-
cause social robots are treated as social actors in the relationship with humans (Fong, Nourbakhsh,
and Dautenhahn, 2003; Novak & Hoffman, 2017), other important determinants might affect
consumer acceptance. Following compensatory consumption theory, we propose that the intention
to adopt social robots partly depends on consumers’need to mitigate their loneliness: consumers
who feel lonely might attribute social robots the ability to provide various types of social supports
typically provided by other humans and expected to alleviate loneliness. Indeed, social robots
seem “alive” as people often unconsciously attribute human-like characteristics to them.
Technology and artificial intelligence are often considered as a way to provide solutions to
major problems of our time. Our research addresses a major topic investigating the extent to
which socials robot can help to alleviate the discomfort due to loneliness. In this sense, our paper
contributes both to the literature in transformative consumer research (Mick, 2006) and robot
adoption. We conceptually explore the psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of lone-
liness typology on adoption intention.
2. Loneliness
Loneliness refers to relationship deficits quantitatively and/or qualitatively (Perlman & Pe-
plau, 1981; Russell, Peplau, and Cutrona, 1980; Weiss, 1974). It is aversive and has negative ef-
fects on physical health, mental health, mortality, and cognitive functions (Hawkley & Cacioppo,
2010). To restore their sense of belonging, socially excluded people are motivated to human con-
nection directly (Maner, DeWall, Baumeister, and Schaller, 2007) or indirectly through compen-
satory consumption. Compensatory consumption refers to the desire for, acquisition or use of
products inserves as a response to a deficit triggered by perceived needs (Koles, Wells, and Tada-
jewski, 2018). For example, Loveland, Smeesters, and Mandel (2010) showed that socially ex-
cluded consumers prefer nostalgic products because the consumption of nostalgic products can
fulfil the need to belong. Consumption is used to compensate for psychological discomfort.
Weiss (1973) first described the multidimensional nature of loneliness by proposing two
distinct forms of loneliness: emotional loneliness and social loneliness.
Emotional loneliness. Emotional loneliness results from the lack of a close, intimate at-
tachment to another person, such as a partner or a best friend. It is characterized by feelings of
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emptiness and abandonment. Emotional loneliness appears, for example, when a partner rela-
tionship dissolves through divorce or being windowed.
Social loneliness. Social loneliness results from the lack of a network of social relationships
in which the person is the part of a group of friends who shares common interests and activities.
It is characterized by feelings of boredom and aimlessness. Social loneliness arises, for example,
when individuals who moved to a new social environment (e.g., to a new city).
3. Social robots and loneliness
Loneliness is rampant globally and is even linked to suicide (Stravynski & Boyer, 2001).
Social robots are autonomous robots that interact with humans in daily environments, following
human-like social behaviors (Fong et al. 2003). Advances in artificial intelligence have enabled
social robots to recognize voices, faces, gestures, human emotions... They can talk to us, guide
us, entertain us and care for us, perhaps like real persons would. These social robots could help
in reducing discomfort associated with loneliness. They are likely to provide various types of so-
cial supports to lonely consumers.
Social support refers to the fulfilment by others of basic ongoing requirements for well-
being (Cutrona, 1996). The experience being valued, respected, and cared about, by others makes
people feel better. Social support has a beneficial effect on well-being (Cohen & Wills, 1985).
3.1. Different types of social support
Weiss (1974) theorized that loneliness is a response to the absence of one or more six types
of social provisions (attachment, reliable alliance, guidance, reassurance of worth, opportunity
for nurturance, and social integration). Different types of relationships meet different social pro-
visions.
Attachment. Attachment is often provided by relationships in which the person receives a
sense of safety and security (Weiss, 1974). Users can feel a sense of emotional attachment to ro-
bots, share stories and secrets to them, and even fall in love with them (Numakunai et al., 2012;
Turkle, 2011).
Reliable alliance. Reliable alliance is derived from relationships in which the person can
count on assistance under any circumstances (Weiss, 1974). Through dialogues, nonverbal cues,
expressive displays, and physical actions, social robots can provide assistance with mobility,
household tasks and health monitoring (Lorenz, Weiss, and Hirche, 2016; Robinson, Macdonald,
and Broadbent, 2014).
Guidance. Guidance is often provided by relationships with trustworthy and authoritative
individuals who can provide advice and assistance (Weiss, 1974). Social robots are developed to
interact with people as tutors, coaches, learning companions. They can provide health information
and advice for users (Kasap & Magnenat-Thalmann, 2012; Kidd & Breazeal, 2008).
Reassurance of worth. Reassurance of worth is provided by relationships in which the per-
son’s skills and abilities are acknowledged (Weiss, 1974). Social robots encourage users to play
better, praise and made users feel intelligent and feel special during a chess game (Leite et al.,
2013).
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Opportunity for nurturance. Opportunity for nurturance topic investigating from relation-
ships in which the person feels responsible for the well-being of another (Weiss, 1974). People
stroke and cuddle the robot, talk to it in ways they talk to babies or pets(Coeckelbergh, 2014; Fu-
ruta, Kanoh, Shimizu, Shimizu, and Nakamura, 2012).
Social integration. Social integration is provided by a network of relationships in which
individuals share interests and concerns (Weiss, 1974). It seems to be nice especially for these
children to share interests with the robot (Looije, Neerincx, Peters, and Henkemans, 2016).
Leite et al. (2013) found that users had fun playing with robots by side and they enjoyed talking
to robots.
3.2. Type of social support associated with different forms of loneliness
According to Weiss (1974), emotional loneliness results from deficits in the attachment
provision, whereas social loneliness results from deficits in the social integration provision. There-
fore, emotional loneliness can only be best resolved by another close and intimate bond that pro-
vides a sense of attachment, and social loneliness can only be best resolved by acquiring new
contacts that provide a sense of social integration.
Based on the work of Weiss (1973), DiTommaso and Spinner (1993) have developed a
multidimensional measure of loneliness that captures two domains of emotional loneliness (ro-
mantic and family) and social loneliness. The social provisions of attachment and guidance are
most associated with romantic and family loneliness, respectively, while social integration is
most associated with social loneliness (Weiss, 1973; DiTommason and Spinner, 1993).
The need to belong is so vital to the human experience. When this need is threatened, people
are often motivated to restore balance by compensatory processes. Lonely people are more sen-
sitive to anything that can generate social contact and break loneliness. They may engage in be-
haviours that directly address the source of the self-deficit (Mandel et al., 2017), for example,
they will use products that can directly resolve the deficit to restore or improve their desired state.
Social robots can potentially help in reducing discomfort due to loneliness as they can provide
various types of social supports to lonely consumers.
3.3. Improvement of well-being
Improvement of well-being is the ultimate aim of all human actions. Subjective well-being
refers to a broad construct that includes emotional responses and global judgment of life satis-
faction (Diener, Suh, Lucas, and Smith, 1999). Consumers who experienced a deficit might turn
to compensatory consumption to restore or improve their sense of well-being (Sharma & Alter,
2012). Compensatory consumption focuses on how people reestablish their well-being through
their consumption choices. The anticipation of well-being has been neglected as a driving variable
of innovation adoption.
Fully in line with compensatory consumption theory, we suggest loneliness will increase the
intention to adopt social robots because they anticipate an improvement of their well-being deriving
from perceived social supports by social robots. Adoption intention refers to consumer’ s desire to
purchase a new product in the near future (Arts, Frambach, and Bijmolt, 2011) and it is the best
available measure for products that are in the early stages of development (Morrison, 1979).
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3.4. Misattribution
Consumer behaviours can be differently influenced by being unconscious or conscious
information processing (Chartrand, 2005). People who feel chronically lonely often uncon-
sciously attribute human-like characteristics to a variety of objects (Epley, Waytz, Akalis, and
Cacioppo, 2008). Social robots are designed to socially interact with people in a human-like
way, which can lead to misunderstandings concerning the authenticity of their interaction or re-
lations (Turkle, Taggart, Kidd, and Dasté, 2006). “Misattribution” means that the effect evoked
by one source is mistakenly attributed to the wrong object, so the observed effect can be elim-
inated if attention is drawn to the conscious source of the felt emotion (Mourey, Olson, and
Yoon, 2017; Schwarz & Clore, 1983). Based on previous works on misattribution manipulation,
we suggest that misattribution account moderates the link between loneliness and perceived
ability to provide social supports.
Our theoretical conceptual framework is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The theoretical conceptual framework
4. Conclusion
Our research proposes the psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of loneliness
typology on adoption intention. We contribute to the literature on robot adoption by highlighting
the role of loneliness. Recognizing the nature of loneliness (romantic, family, and social loneli-
ness) provides greater insights into understanding the intention to adopt social robots. While prior
research mainly focused on functional acceptance, our work studies relational or social acceptance
as investigating the relationship between consumers and machines (i.e., social robots). The rela-
tionship with a social robot may provide social supports corresponding to the different forms of
loneliness and improve consumers’ well-being. Our research also makes ant contributions to the
literature on loneliness and compensatory consumption. To restore one’s sense of belonging, re-
search on compensatory consumption for loneliness often focuses on using products that signal
affiliation with others, for the purpose of human reconnection (Mead et al. 2011). Integrating the
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literature on human-robot interaction, loneliness, and compensatory consumption, we demonstrate
that loneliness increases consumers’desire for products exhibiting a social relationship with con-
sumers (i.e., social robots). Interacting directly with social robot products can help to restore a
sense of belonging. Thus, social robot products can serve as a means by which consumers com-
pensate for and mitigate feelings of loneliness.
This current research may shed light on why, in an unparalleled time of social connections
from advances in technology, people feel lonelier than ever before. Our reliance on objects to
provide social supports typically provided by other humans, paradoxically, jeopardize human
relationships (Mick & Fournier, 1998; Turkle, 2011).
To test the proposed model, the survey instrument can be developed by adapting existing
valid and reliable scales. Social supports can be measured using social provisions scale (Cutrona
& Russell, 1987). Anticipated improvement of well-being can be measured thanks to four items
related to positive emotions, prevention of negative emotions and improvement of life quality.
Intention to adopt measure can be adapted from (MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch, 1986). Loneliness
can be measured using the short version of the social and emotional loneliness scale (DiTommaso,
Brannen, and Best, 2004) including social, family, and romantic subscales. An experiment can
be used to test the “misattribution” account. In misattribution condition, participants will be no-
ticed the lifelike characteristics of social robots and the true source of social supports. For exam-
ple, participants will read a statement before watching a video clip of a social robot: “Social
robots are machines capable of listening, talking, and telling jokes. Such machines will help us,
entertain us and care for us”.
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