Developing Human Trust in Automated Systems: The Central Role of Personal Control

Abstract

In this article, we build from previous research on the antecedents of trust in human and non-human relationships to identify and classify four primary components of autonomous system trustworthiness (superior capability, reliable credibility, accessible customization, communicated consideration). Using these components, we develop a theory outlining the psychological processes that lead individuals to trust autonomous systems. A primary contribution of our theory is that we demonstrate how an individual’s perceptions of personal control influences the development of human trust in an autonomous system. We argue that the extent to which a technology increases an individual’s sense of personal control on key dimensions (i.e., control over one’s task environment and control over a given technology) determines the extent to which an individual will trust a given autonomous system. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the theory we outline here advances research on human-machine interaction and trust in autonomous systems.