How Human-like Behavior of Service Robot Affects Social Distance: A Mediation Model and Cross-Cultural Comparison

Previous studies on the human likeness of service robots have focused mainly on their human-like appearance and used psychological constructs to measure the outcomes of human likeness. Unlike previous studies, this study focused on the human-like behavior of the service robot and used a sociological construct, social distance, to measure the outcome of human likeness. We constructed a conceptual model, with perceived competence and warmth as mediators, based on social-identity theory. The hypotheses were tested through online experiments with 219 participants from China and 180 participants from the US. Similar results emerged for Chinese and American participants in that the high (vs. low) human-like behavior of the service robot caused the participants to have stronger perceptions of competence and warmth, both of which contributed to a smaller social distance between humans and service robots. Perceptions of competence and warmth completely mediated the positive effect of the human-like behavior of the service robot on social distance. Furthermore, Chinese participants showed higher anthropomorphism (perceived human-like behavior) and a stronger perception of warmth and smaller social distance. The perception of competence did not differ across cultures. This study provides suggestions for the human-likeness design of service robots to promote natural interaction between humans and service robots and increase human acceptance of service robots.