To avoid disconnection or approach connection: Loneliness predicts social robot anthropomorphism via different social motivations in the UK and China

Abstract

Lonely people are often considered more likely to anthropomorphize social robots than the non-lonely; however, increasing evidence challenges this inference. By distinguishing between avoidance and approach social motivations, this study proposes a dual-pathway model of the association between loneliness and social robot anthropomorphism. According to this model, loneliness predicts robot anthropomorphism positively via high social avoidance motivation but negatively via low social approach motivation. We provided support for this model in 5 studies (2 pre-registered, N = 1575), and found that the positive pathway via avoidance social motivation was more prominent among British participants, whereas the negative pathway via approach social motivation was more prominent among Chinese participants. Varying levels of animism beliefs accounted for these cultural differences. Our findings enhance the current understanding of lonely people's motivational processes and shed light on the distinct social motivational orientations underlying anthropomorphism in different cultural contexts.