The Critical Robot: Impact of Performance Feedback on Intrinsic Motivation, Self-Esteem and Psychophysiology in Human–Robot Interaction

Social, anthropomorphic robots are increasingly used in professional work environments to collaborate with humans. However, little is known about how these robots affect human workers in performance-critical aspects, such as feedback. The present study investigates differences between the effects of a robot and a human feedback giver on self-esteem, intrinsic motivation, and psychophysiological reactions. Using a mixed model design for subjective data and a between-subject design for psychophysiological data, we tested 72 participants who performed a cognitive task on working memory, namely the 3-back task. The results indicate that people are more motivated to perform the task when receiving feedback from a robot, but their electrodermal activity and heart rate are higher after receiving positive feedback from a human. There is no difference in electrodermal activity following negative feedback from a human or a robot. Additional analyses show that individuals report feeling less comfortable and perceiving less social warmth when receiving feedback from a robot compared to a human. Furthermore, individuals exhibit higher skin conductance responses when perceiving greater social warmth in their interactions, regardless of whether their interaction partner is a human or a robot. The results suggest that social robots may serve as surrogates for social interaction. However, they seem to have less social presence, which leads to reduced psychophysiological reactions. This knowledge may be used to calibrate arousal in feedback situations.