Social Mediation through Robots -- A Scoping Review on Improving Group Interactions through Directed Robot Action using an Extended Group Process Model

TL;DR

This paper reviews how robots can influence group interactions by mediating social processes, proposing a comprehensive framework to understand and standardize social mediation techniques in small groups.

Contribution

It introduces the Mediation I-P-O model, synthesizes 89 social mediation concepts, and develops 11 approaches for robots to improve group dynamics.

Findings

Robots can effectively influence interpersonal group dynamics.

A total of 89 social mediation concepts were identified.

11 mediation approaches for robotic influence in groups.

Abstract

Group processes refer to the dynamics that occur within a group and are critical for understanding how groups function. With robots being increasingly placed within small groups, improving these processes has emerged as an important application of social robotics. Social Mediation Robots elicit behavioral change within groups by deliberately influencing the processes of groups. While research in this field has demonstrated that robots can effectively affect interpersonal dynamics, there is a notable gap in integrating these insights to develop coherent understanding and theory. We present a scoping review of literature targeting changes in social interactions between multiple humans through intentional action from robotic agents. To guide our review, we adapt the classical Input-Process-Output (I-P-O) models that we call "Mediation I-P-O model". We evaluated 1633 publications, which yielded 89 distinct social mediation concepts. We construct 11 mediation approaches robots can use to shape processes in small groups and teams. This work strives to produce generalizable insights and evaluate the extent to which the potential of social mediation through robots has been realized thus far. We hope that the proposed framework encourages a holistic approach to the study of social mediation and provides a foundation to standardize future reporting in the domain.