Does what users say match what they do? Comparing self-reported attitudes and behaviours towards a social robot

Constructs intended to capture social attitudes and behaviour towards social robots are incredibly varied, with little overlap or consistency in how they may be related. In this study we conduct exploratory analyses between participants’ self-reported attitudes and behaviour towards a social robot. We designed an autonomous interaction where 102 participants interacted with a social robot (Pepper) in a hypothetical travel planning scenario, during which the robot displayed various multi-modal social behaviours. Several behavioural measures were embedded throughout the interaction, followed by a self-report questionnaire targeting participant’s social attitudes towards the robot (social trust, liking, rapport, competency trust, technology acceptance, mind perception, social presence, and social information processing). Several relationships were identified between participant’s behaviour and self-reported attitudes towards the robot. Implications for how to conceptualise and measure interactions with social robots are discussed.