To What Extent Does the Perceived Obesity Level of Humanoid Robots Affect People's Trust in Them?

TL;DR

This study investigates how the perceived obesity level of humanoid robots influences human trust, finding that robots with lower perceived obesity levels are trusted more, highlighting an overlooked factor in human-robot interaction.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of perceived obesity level in robots and empirically examines its impact on trust, an area previously unexplored in HRI research.

Findings

Lower perceived obesity levels increase trust in humanoid robots.

Perceived obesity level significantly affects trust in HRI.

Study provides empirical evidence linking robot appearance to trust.

Abstract

Despite obesity being widely discussed in the social sciences, the effect of a robot's perceived obesity level on trust is not covered by the field of HRI. While in research regarding humans, Body Mass Index (BMI) is commonly used as an indicator of obesity, this scale is completely irrelevant in the context of robots, so it is challenging to operationalize the perceived obesity level of robots; indeed, while the effect of robot's size (or height) on people's trust in it was addressed in previous HRI papers, the perceived obesity level factor has not been addressed. This work examines to what extent the perceived obesity level of humanoid robots affects people's trust in them. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a within-subjects study where, using an online pre-validated questionnaire, the subjects were asked questions while being presented with two pictures of humanoids, one with a regular obesity level and the other with a high obesity level. The results show that humanoid robots with lower perceived obesity levels are significantly more likely to be trusted.