PISTIS - Persuasion in Social Touch Interactions

reportActive / Technical Report | Accesssion Number: AD1144313 | DOI: 10.3990/1.9789036551953 | Open PDF

Abstract:

A social touch between two people or a user and a Virtual Agent (VA) can increase compliance in neutral and collaborative settings. In this study, we look at the effects of a social touch by a VA in a negotiation setting and the role of trust in the VA as moderating variable. In Experiment 1, 63 participants were randomly assigned to a touch or a no-touch group and negotiated prices with a virtual, female bar owner on behalf of their student society. We found that touch had a negative effect on compliance for people who perceive the VA to be untrustworthy, and had no effect for people who perceived the VA to be moderately or highly trustworthy. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the trustworthiness of the VA through her face expression and the written introduction to the experiment. Ninety six participants were randomly assigned to a touch or a no-touch group and completed the same negotiation scenario. We found that touch by the untrustworthy VA resulted in lower compliance than touch by a neutral VA, confirming the results of Experiment 1. These results show that a positive effect of a social touch on compliance may be absent in a competitive settings, and may even be negative if the touching opponent is perceived as untrustworthy. Our study adds to our knowledge on the boundary conditions for VAs and robots with social touch capabilities.

Author(s):
Van Erp, Jan B. ; Kolesnyk, D. ; Sallaberry, C. ; Mader, A. H.
Author Organization(s):
University of Twente
Funding Organization(s):
European Office of Aerospace Research and Development (EOARD), Ruislip
Document Type:
Technical Report/Final Report
Publication Date:
2021 Jun 22
Pagination:
17

Security Markings

DOCUMENT & CONTEXTUAL SUMMARY

Distribution Code:
A - Approved For Public Release
Distribution Statement: Public Release

RECORD

Collection: TRECMS
Identifying Numbers
Report Number(s):
AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2021-0014
Grant Number(s):
FA9550-19-1-7004
Subject Terms
Modernization Areas:
Autonomy
Communities of Interest:
Autonomy
Descriptor(s):
virtual reality, psychology, social psychology, human-robot interaction, negotiations, haptics, human systems integration, cognitive science, environment, artificial intelligence, instructions, robots, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive systems engineering, cooperation, engineering, human behavior
Keyword(s):
PISTIS (Persuasion in social touch interactions), va (virtual agents), trustworthiness, face expression
Subject Categories:
Biotechnology; Behavioral and Social Sciences
Creation Date:
2021 Aug 12
Update Date:
2021 Oct 29