Self-efficacy and acceptance of robots

Abstract

As many post-industrial societies are rapidly ageing, intelligent and innovative solutions from the technology side are sought to ensure that welfare services continue in the future. Both social and nonsocial assistive robots are considered as solutions. To ensure the successful implementation of new technology, it is essential to understand the factors that influence the user's decision to accept or reject technology. The aim of this study was to understand the association between robot use self-efficacy and acceptance of robots. Acceptance of humanoid, pet, lifting, and telepresence robots were studied among care work staff (N = 3800). Analyses were based on linear regression analysis. The results showed that robot use self-efficacy is associated with the acceptance to use humanoid, pet, and telepresence robots. The strongest connection was found between robot use self-efficacy and the functional and social acceptance of a humanoid robot. General self-efficacy was not associated with any of the robot types studied in the final models. Furthermore, no interaction effect was found between general self-efficacy and robot use self-efficacy. The results underline that psychological processes on acceptance of robots vary between different types of robots. The results imply that robot use self-efficacy is important for understanding acceptance and implementation of robots. The explanatory power of self-efficacy is better when it is tied to a specific matter such as the use of care robots.