Assistive Robots and Reasonable Work Assignment Reduce Perceived Stigma toward Persons with Disabilities

TL;DR

This study investigates how assistive robots and equitable work assignments influence social perceptions of persons with disabilities, finding that tailored and universal robot assistance can significantly reduce perceived cognitive stigma in workplace scenarios.

Contribution

The paper provides empirical evidence that assistive robots and inclusive work practices can decrease perceived cognitive stigma toward persons with disabilities.

Findings

Assistive robots reduce perceived cognitive stigma.

Universal robot-assisted work further diminishes stigma.

Work adaptation and robot assistance improve social inclusion.

Abstract

Robots are becoming more prominent in assisting persons with disabilities (PwD). Whilst there is broad consensus that robots can assist in mitigating physical impairments, the extent to which they can facilitate social inclusion remains equivocal. In fact, the exposed status of assisted workers could likewise lead to reduced or increased perceived stigma by other workers. We present a vignette study on the perceived cognitive and behavioral stigma toward PwD in the workplace. We designed four experimental conditions depicting a coworker with an impairment in work scenarios: overburdened work, suitable work, and robot-assisted work only for the coworker, and an offer of robot-assisted work for everyone. Our results show that cognitive stigma is significantly reduced when the work task is adapted to the person's abilities or augmented by an assistive robot. In addition, offering robot-assisted work for everyone, in the sense of universal design, further reduces perceived cognitive stigma. Thus, we conclude that assistive robots reduce perceived cognitive stigma, thereby supporting the use of collaborative robots in work scenarios involving PwDs.