I vs. robot: Sociodigital self-comparisons in hybrid teams from a theoretical, empirical, and practical perspective

Abstract

This article in the journal Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO) introduces sociodigital self-comparisons (SDSC) as individual evaluations of own abilities in comparison to the knowledge and skills of a cooperating digital actor in a group. SDSC provide a complementary perspective for the acceptance and evaluation of human-robot interaction (HRI). As social robots enter the workplace, in addition to human-human comparisons, digital actors also become objects of comparisons (i.e., I vs. robot). To date, SDSC have not been systematically reflected in HRI. Therefore, we introduce SDSC from a theoretical perspective and reflect its significance in social robot applications. First, we conceptualize SDSC based on psychological theories and research on social comparison. Second, we illustrate the concept of SDSC for HRI using empirical data from 80 hybrid teams (two human actors and one autonomous agent) who worked together in an interdependent computer-simulated team task. SDSC in favor of the autonomous agent corresponded to functional (e.g., robot trust, or team efficacy) and dysfunctional (e.g., job threat) team-relevant variables, highlighting the two-sidedness of SDSC in hybrid teams. Third, we outline the (practical) potential of SDSC for social robots in the field and the lab.