Abstract
Ageing population poses new social, technological, and research challenges. It is anticipated that, by 2080, Poland will be in the group of counties that will have one-third of their population aged over 65. Different strategies aim at dealing with the mentioned demographic challenge, including widespread use of humanoids in the care of older people. As this research was the first of its kind in Poland, this article aims to identify the perceived key benefits that could shape positive attitudes toward humanoids in the care of older people. Based on the specific attributes of a humanoid technology, the model hypothesizes that an attitude toward a technology can be directly shaped by four kinds of perceived benefits, namely an impact on the quality of life, functional aspects, ethical problems, and a social impact. Also, a theoretical model assumes that a user attitude toward a humanoid technology is predicted to have an indirect influence on the future intended use. A survey method was used to collect research data. An electronic questionnaire was used to conduct confidential interviews of Polish citizens. All in all, 643 questionnaires were filled. Results received using structural equation modeling confirmed that the most important factor shaping human attitudes was a perceived social impact received from the use of humanoids in the care of the lonely people and making life more enjoyable for the elderly. Results also confirmed that men had a more positive attitude toward humanoids than women. Among different age groups of respondents, people between 26–40 years of age had the most relatively positive attitude toward humanoids.
Highlights
A systematic decrease in the numbers of retired active working-age people was observed for more than twenty years
The conducted literature review, as well as the present research, confirmed that an attitude toward humanoids could be shaped by four factors: an impact on the quality of life, functional aspects, ethical problems, and a social impact
The following four variables reflecting the functional aspects received the highest marks given by respondents in the seven-point Likert scale: “the use of humanoids should be easy and intuitive” (F1, mean = 6.40), “an important feature of a humanoid will be the ability to call for help on behalf of an older person” (F6, mean = 6.26), another “important feature of a humanoid would be the ability to remind an older person about the time to take medications” (F3, mean = 6.02), and yet another “important feature of a humanoid will be the ability to inform the family members about the health condition of the minded older adults” (F5, mean = 5.88)
Summary
A systematic decrease in the numbers of retired active working-age people was observed for more than twenty years. Young people (0–14 years of age) constituted 25.92% of the world population and amounted to 15.6% in Europe. Persons considered to be of working age (15–64) accounted for 65.38% of the world population, and 65.00% of the EU population. The share of older adults (aged 65 and over) reached 8.70% globally and 19.40% in the EU, showing an increase of 0.3% compared to the previous year and a growth of 2.5% compared to the figure 10 years ago. With 33.37% of people aged 65 and over in the total population, Japan is in the lead globally. In Poland, young people account for 15.1% of the total population, while those aged 15–64 amount to 68.3%. In 2017, the Poles aged 65 and over totaled 16.5%, which was 0.5% more than in 2016
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